The Grimm Knight
by FanFic Hunter Anonymous
Summary: As Remnant enjoys its time of peace through efforts that barely tame the Grimm forces, one aspiring Huntsman trains to use the enemy as his strength. However, who will stand beside him while he struggles to control his descent into the maddening darkness? In a world where the bright moon grows dim, and the most dangerous enemies are those not seen, a Grimm Knight awakens to fight.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **The RWBY universe is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions. I do not claim ownership, or do this for any monetary gain.

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><p><strong>RWBY<strong>

**The Grimm Knight**

Prologue

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><p><strong><em>Late evening in the Gray Forests of Patch...<em>**

"Ruby, watch out!" Jaune tackled the silver-eyed girl out of harm's way before spear-like claws pierced the spot she previously stood. Still on the ground with the blonde-haired youth protectively covering her, Ruby looked past his shoulder with a stunned expression.

"J-Jaune, Crescent Rose…it broke," she muttered, shocked at the unexpected destruction of her custom weapon. A few feet away from them, she could see the multiple fragments of metal that made up what she had believed to be an indestructible piece of metallic chaos.

Jaune would have responded, but was currently too distracted by their very much alive enemy, a Grimm creature known as Mephysto. It was an aerial Grimm with oval-shaped crimson eyes and a white-plated, scorpion-like body covered by a thick black mist. Hidden underneath that same cape of darkness was a skeletal hand whose spear-like fingers had the ability to extend well over eight feet within a second.

He'd already been grazed by one of those fingers during his descent with Ruby. And even with his juggernaut amount of Aura that was capable of deflecting Yang's most powerful blows, the Mephysto tore through it with a mere scratch. That definitely wasn't good.

Then there was the fact that Ruby's weapon, a well-made construct of extremely durable material, fell apart when she blocked one of the creature's stabbing motions.

"Damn it!" Jaune grit his teeth as he quickly picked the small scythe-wielder up bridal style and dodged away from the hovering Grimm's next attack. The extended digits swiped through the air with frightening speed and made unexpected impact with a nearby tree, slicing cleanly through the wood and producing a huge dust cloud when it hit the ground.

When the dust cleared, the two young humans were gone.

XxX

"Why were you so deep in the forest?!" Jaune asked irately as the two of them ran through the foliage to escape the phantom Grimm giving chase. He could have been relaxing at home on this beautiful night with a nice hero biography, being periodically teased by Yang who would curl up next to him while watching TV, and then eventually having to clean up Ruby's messes from her usual evening practice. Instead, he was running from a Grimm that wanted to turn him into a shish kabob.

"I wanted to test out Crescent Rose against a strong enemy. I mean, come on! The Grimm they use at school are so boring and predictable," Ruby responded with a note of frustration and cutely pouted at him.

Despite being slightly out of breath, Jaune sighed in exasperation. He then smirked at Ruby whose expression made him feel like he was kicking a puppy. Well, a puppy that was capable of kicking his ass. Luckily, he knew her buttons.

"When we get back home, no milk for you," he teased with a grin.

"What?! You can't do that! How else am I going to beat Yang in the growth department," Ruby shouted in aghast.

Jaune lifted an amused eyebrow at that. She was only ten, what part of Yang's growth was she worried about competitively? Er, then again, was milk Yang's secret to being taller than him? Maybe he should start drinking more of it, too…

"Jaune, duck!"

The blonde-haired boy looked up in time to see the Mephysto appear in front of him with a harsh slice. He executed a swift front roll under the creature and ran to Ruby's side. He glanced at her and saw that same helpless expression from before replace the cheery one he had grown to love. His dark-blue eyes returned to the Grimm spawn that was now hovering a few feet across from them, tauntingly, as if to say, "You can't win. Accept defeat."

It was a line he was very used to hearing in his life, but he wouldn't let it apply to the girl he viewed fondly as his little sister.

"I'll distract him. Run home and get help," Jaune ordered while unsheathing his longsword.

Ruby looked at him with disbelieving eyes. "I'm not going to leave you behind, no matter what," she told him defiantly.

The Mephysto was still floating there, patiently awaiting their next action.

Jaune abruptly wrapped the brave girl in his warm embrace. "I may not be good at fighting, but I'm an expert when it comes to buying time. Just believe in me," he whispered into her ear before separating himself and giving her his most reassuring smile. "I know I'm not the most reliable brother, or even your real one by blood, but just this once, please, treat me like I am."

Ruby's silvery eyes misted with tears that gently started to fall. "I-I'll come back fast with Yang, I promise!"

Jaune shook his head at her, "I wouldn't expect any le_—_"

_SHINK!_

A sound like that of a knife piercing fresh meat penetrated the surrounding.

"JAUNE!"

Jaune's gaze went from Ruby's horrified face down to where five crimson, skeletal fingers were protruding from his chest and abdomen, even going through the sturdy armor he wore. He looked back up in desperation.

"R_—_*cough*_—_Ruby, run!"

The spear-like extensions retracted from his body and he fell to the ground onto his knees, sword hitting the dirt with an audible thud and blood from his wounds already pooling around him. The Mephysto passed by silently, stalking towards its next prey that had yet to move due to shock. He tried smiling at his sibling to fake being all right, since he couldn't seem to form any words verbally. It was all he could think of doing to get her to react and start moving.

At that moment, he remembered a time when Summer had said that his courage and honest smiles were his greatest assets because they were contagious. She said that to him when he came home after a particularly huge failing in Signal Academy's quarterly ranking test. What he wouldn't give to exchange his so-called strengths for something like Ruby's prodigal aptitude with weapons or Yang's awe inspiring amount of physical prowess.

His hazy vision became more focused as he tried to maintain consciousness. He could see Ruby stepping back timidly from the Grimm, reaching for her non-existent weapon, Crescent Rose.

"_I've got to do something, damn it! Anything!" _He tried grasping at what little Aura he had left to temporarily heal his wounds and help him ignore the pain from being stabbed in several places.

It wasn't working.

The Mephysto raised its bony hand, three fingers pointed accurately at Ruby's head.

"_Even if I can't save myself, the least I can do is save her before I die! That's all I want!" _

Darkness started creeping into his vision, making it harder for him to see the petite form of his dear sister. His sister who just…!

"I won't let you die alone, Jaune. This isn't something you get to decide for yourself…" Ruby whispered with her eyes closed and a happy grin, hugging his frail body to hers, ignoring the dark red blood seeping into her own black and crimson clothing.

"_She used her Semblance to get to me...to comfort me in my last moments..." _Jaune's clouded eyes narrowed as he saw the Grimm creature turn away from the rose petals resulting from Ruby's movement. It settled its sinister gaze on them.

Even as the blonde youth's eyes steadily closed, he continued to try and pull at whatever was left of his Aura. Without knowing it, his resounding desire to save his sister awakened something deep within him, like a catalyst to an explosive reaction. His body trembled as it greedily licked at a source of foreign Aura whose roots were deeply entangled around his vibrant soul.

"_I'll save her!"_

Ruby gasped as she was violently thrown into the air and landed in a tree nearby. She quickly recovered and jumped back to the ground, looking around in confusion. There was no sign of Jaune, the Mephysto, or the source of knockback.

"Jaune! Where are you? Say something!" she shouted with urgency.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

An abnormal, guttural howl shook the trees around her. A brilliant flash of white light blinded the young girl's vision temporarily as something collided with the tree she just jumped off, sending splinters in the air. Blinded and with her Aura exhausted, when a thick branch hit her solidly in the back of the head she was effectively knocked unconscious.

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"

"_This power…"_

The Mephysto dodged left and right trying to avoid the flurry of stabs, strikes, and slashes aimed at its body. The wild combination of attacks ripped away at the black mist that hid the creature's features and allowed it to levitate.

"…_is intoxicating!"_

The dark haze of protection was shredded away from its opponent's last attack, leaving it to frantically fall in its true form; a scorpion-like insectoid whose stinger was shaped similarly to a human's skeletal hand.

It pathetically tried crawling away, only to be severed in the midsection by an unruly, helmet-splitting cut of a double-edged sword.

A partially armored hand, whose skin was darker than the black associated with the Grimm spawn, grasped the Mephysto's quivering head. The owner of the appendage leered maniacally back at the creature's glowing red eyes.

_"You're finished!"_

The armored fist closed with a hideous crunch. The rest of the phantom Grimm's body parts exploded in a cloud of Dust, dissipating into the evening wind.

"Back the fuck off from my little sister!"

A streak of fire exploded onto the scene and impacted the shadowed, twisted figure that recently dispatched the Mephysto. It shook off the damage and walked into the moonlight to welcome its newest opponent, a girl with a raging fire in her eyes and vibrant gold hair.

She looked familiar…

"What are you?" the girl wondered aloud as she finished inspecting Ruby and laid her onto a patch of soft grass.

That's right, what was he, or who was he? How could he forget that? He was…

Consciousness came back to Jaune as he attempted to make sense of what he was seeing. Last he remembered, Ruby was hugging him tightly while he bled out and, wait, what was Yang doing here?

"I knew you'd come. Why do you look so pissed? Is Ruby all right?" Jaune noted that his own voice felt wrong. Sounded wrong; distorted, raspy, and grating in delivery.

Yang's eyes narrowed dangerously as she observed the very odd Grimm before her. She started moving into her battle stance in preparation.

"Y'know, I've studied a lot about the different kind of Grimm out there, and I've never heard of one that could talk before," the buxom blonde stated. "Now, I'll give you ten seconds to explain how you know my little sister's name and why she's passed out, then, if you're cooperative, I'll give you an extra five to tell me where my cute little brother is as well." The blonde's gauntlet weapons, Ember Celica, chambered its shells loudly. "If you don't participate, well, all bets are off."

"This isn't funny, drop the_—_" Jaune's words caught in his mouth when by happenstance he caught his own reflection from the blade of his sword.

It clattered to the ground.

Yang raised a fine eyebrow at the speech-capable Grimm who took a knee sloppily after dropping its longsword. She was actually expecting a challenge, not a quick surrender. The majority of its body was composed of the bony plating characteristic of the Grimm species, but assembled in a way where it looked like an exact replica of a gothic themed knight's set of armor. The exposed portions between the jagged plating were made up of the Grimm's black flesh. It looked like it could put up a damn good fight.

However, it was interesting that this one had an eerie ghostly-blue set of slanted eyes visible through its bone-plated helmet. She thought all Grimm had red when it came to those snippets. Then there was its choice of equipment…

"Hey, why do you have Crocea Mors? Answer me, damn it!" Yang demanded furiously. Her eyes became even more fevered, and her hair seemingly in flames. "You better have not touched Jaune, or I'll kill you ten times over!"

Her threat met complete silence for longer than she thought necessary. She spit at the dirt and pulled her right arm back. If this stupid set of armor wouldn't respond to her words, maybe it would to her fists.

_"...I..."_

Jaune didn't know what to do. He wasn't even sure what he was now. Tonight's events were too much for his addled psyche, and the feeling of uncontrollable rage gnawing at the edge of his sanity wasn't helping. There was only one possible course of action, at least until he figured out what was going on with his body and how to control it. Looking past the fuming form of his elder sister, he inwardly smiled at the serene face of Ruby.

"_I can't stay here."_

"Hah!" Yang burst forward with amazing speed and unloaded all her ammunition into the right-handed straight punch she threw at the armored Grimm's mid-section.

However, using the white shield of Jaune's weapon set, it blocked her punch at the last second with impressive reaction time. The shield was now emitting wisps of dark energy that radiated familiar power.

"Huh? No way, Grimm can't use Aur-aahhh!"

Her body flew back at an upwards angle, sailing over the canopy of tall trees due to her enemy's counter. The soulless creature somehow absorbed the force of her attack into the shield and reversed the damage back at her. Worried for her unconscious little sister, and more than a little ticked off, she fired Ember Celica to halt her flight so she could return and continue the encounter.

"_Sorry, Yang." _If this were under better circumstances, Jaune would have rejoiced at finally being able to land a significant hit on his brawler of a sister.

The boy-turned-Grimm hurriedly picked up his longsword, gave one last glance back at Ruby, and tore off into the deeper foliage that would lead out of the confines of the Gray Forest.

**To Be Continued…**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Yo, fellow fanfic readers! Above is my attempt at spreading an idea or, if the response is good, starting up a RWBY fanfiction myself. Herein you will have found your favorite-to-hate tropes and sloppy development (quite possibly because there aren't enough cares in my shits to give).

In this prologue, Ruby is ten, making Jaune and Yang thirteen years old. Here's some details concerning this story's version of Jaune that I wanted to note, if this story does continue.

Jaune…

- is an adopted member of Ruby & Yang's family.

- has a Grimm form as one of his Semblance abilities that changes his appearance to that of a gothic-plated knight, similar in design to Fate/Zero's Berserker. However, where there is black under-armor, it's pure black body instead. Also, the armor is less ornate and more jagged in appearance since its plate is made of the same material as the Grimm's bone protrusions. I'm not much of an artist, but I'll try to sketch it sometime. For now, just picture that Berserker armor with off-white coloring reminiscent of Grimm bone.

I don't want to stick too much with canon until they hit school, mostly because, well...there isn't a lot of mechanics and extensive material to work with. There's a bunch more interesting fan speculation than actual fact. But that's why we like this whole fanfiction shtick, right? Make up our own content at will. Such a novel idea!

If there isn't much of a response, I'll just detail what my thoughts were, in hopes that someone else can take the torch and adapt it in a much better flow and style. Since, after all, I'm not a writer. I'm a fanfic reader at heart.

Cheers!

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><p>Shout-Out to: Devil May Cry 4 and FateZero.


	2. The Lover, The Fool, and The Emperor

****Disclaimer: ****The RWBY universe is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions. I do not claim ownership, or do this for any monetary gain.

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><p><strong>RWBY<strong>

**The Grimm Knight**

The Lover, The Fool, and The Emperor

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><p><em><strong>Early evening, two hours before Jaune's disappearance…<strong>_

"I'm home!" Yang shouted as she kicked her boots off in the entryway.

"In here, Yang! Dinner's almost ready!" a young male voice replied from the next room over.

The lilac-eyed girl smiled toothily and walked to the kitchen area. What she saw made her burst out laughing.

"Pwahaha! You're seriously wearing that thing?"

Jaune faced her while balancing an iron wok, clearly embarrassed about donning a frilly apron with the phrase "Knights belong in the kitchen" stitched in. "Sh-shut up! Ruby got it for my birthday last week, it's only right I start wearing it unless I want to hurt her feelings," he argued back.

"I-hah-I," Yang steadied herself. She was having trouble stopping her giggles. "I can't believe she thought I was serious."

Jaune looked at his older sister accusingly. "I knew you were somehow involved with this," he said while he emptied the contents of the wok onto a clean plate with silverware.

"You made my favorite!" Yang exclaimed happily as she licked her lips in anticipation and took a seat at their dining table. The bell peppers and beef stir-fry smelled better than she remembered. Jaune must have done something special to it, she surmised.

The blonde-haired boy sat down, put the plate in front of her, and watched amusingly as she immediately dug in without form or grace. When her hand flew up he put a napkin in it almost as quick, like doing so was habitual. A few seconds later, she finished.

"Ah, you outdid yourself, little bro," Yang praised him, patting her stomach. "So, where is everyone this time?" she asked, noting the house's silence.

Jaune scratched his chin. "Hm…your parents are out on another Hunter contract near Menagerie. They said they'd be gone for about three days. Ruby's at Uncle Qrow's working on modifying her Crescent Rose."

The blonde brawler nodded in acknowledgement and then looked at him curiously. "Weren't you supposed to be at the Raven's Hall bookstore tonight? I remember you being all excited at the chance to meet your favorite hero at her book signing."

The young knight shrugged nonchalantly and smiled. "There'll always be a next time. I wanted to be home to welcome you back and make sure you didn't starve to death."

Yang blushed at his words. "Tch! You didn't have to do that! I only food poison myself half the time I cook."

The two blondes shared a laugh as a comfortable, contemplative silence fell over them.

"Hey, y'know how they say it's always good to keep constants in your life?" Yang asked.

Jaune looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean, like friends? Oh, don't tell me, did one of your friends attack you again because of the way her boyfriend looked at you?"

"Well that did hap_—_I mean no, you dunce!" she slammed the table, causing the teenage boy to jump out of his seat in alarm.

"My mistake, sorry," Jaune apologized and backed up from Yang who was now walking provocatively towards him. "What's wrong? Yang?" His back hit the wall.

"What I mean, Jaune, is that every time I need someone, you're always there, not far away," the golden-haired girl said, sporting a sincere grin. "You try to do even the smallest things for me without thinking about yourself."

Jaune swallowed audibly, he had no idea where she was going with this. "W-well, of course. I'm your brother, after all."

Yang closed the distance between them. Her face was extremely close to his, to the point where he could smell the alluring fragrance of her shampoo, a pleasant combination of lavender and honey.

"Wrong, Jaune. I'm a girl, and you're a boy. We're not related, and we love each other, right?" She settled her hands gently on his defined chest and moved her head slightly right, brushing a few strands of her wild golden locks near his nose. "Remember how you always complimented me about my hair when we were kids? You're the reason I've kept it like this."

They were pretty much nose-to-nose now.

"C-come on Yang, cut it out. Be serious here…"

"Oh, I a_—_"

"BANZAI!" Ruby burst into the room loudly with her arms thrown high into the air. She paused in her excitement and looked at the two blondes in confusion. "Uh...what are you two doing?"

Jaune squeezed out from underneath an annoyed Yang and laughed nervously. "We, I mean," his hands were making random motions, which then stopped when they made contact with his apron. "She was helping me tie the back of the apron you got me, that's all!"

Yang sent the innocently perplexed Ruby a brief glare that was quickly replaced with a mischievous smile. "I don't think I quite finished tying it, one sec." She walked over to the bewildered young knight and pressed her body to his, causing him to blush furiously. Her hands searched for a bit, and when she found the strings to tie, she tugged them together tightly, eliciting a startled yelp from the poor boy.

"There you go," she chirped, hopping back a step.

"That's an interesting way to do it. I think I've seen Mom do that to Dad before!" Ruby naively exclaimed, causing the blonde boy to cough and Yang to giggle. "Oh, wow! You look so cool, Jaune. You should wear it to school!"

"Sorry, Ruby. You know the dress code at Signal." Jaune rubbed the back of his head and smiled good-naturedly.

"Fridays are casual dress; you can wear ANYTHING you want then," Yang helpfully supplemented, grinning impishly.

"Awesome! I can't wait to walk with you to school while you're wearing it," Ruby cheerfully stated as she ran over and hugged his mid-section affectionately.

"_What did I do to deserve this?" _Jaune asked himself begrudgingly, patting the head of the petite dark-haired girl attached to him.

XxX

_**Two years later…**_

_**Midnight at the Screaming Valkyrie bar in Vale…**_

"Now, look here, blondie. We're more than willing to part with information, but we do expect some form of payment, which…" Lecherous eyes passed over his potential client's form. "How about you show us what's under_—_!"

The gaudy suited man doubled over from unbelievable pain with a muted scream. He looked up fearfully, seeing a devilish smirk plastered on the girl's face.

"Let me tell you two pieces of useful information... One, never try to proposition a beautiful woman like me so sleazily and expect no punishment. Two, my payment comes in the form of not placing every single one of you in a body bag, and three," she knelt down to the pained man's level.

"I-I thought you said two?" he rasped out.

"AND three, you're definitely not my type," she sweetly finished her response, which was accompanied by a loud click from her right hand's gauntlet that was hovering dangerously low.

"No, no, no!"

He quickly flew through the club's front doors into a pile of similarly suited men, the majority of them being knocked out or faintly crying in agony.

Yang smirked at her handiwork proudly. "It's safe to say that guy won't be making babies without reconstructive surgery." She turned around to address her remaining audience, one portly man who was sweating bullets. He probably didn't enjoy the show of destruction she just performed in his establishment. "Now, how about that information, mister?"

"You didn't even tell us what you wanted, crazy blonde bitch! You just started beating the living hell out of my guys as soon as you arrived!" he shouted at her bitterly. His purple suit was drenched with perspiration, and there was visible wetness in his lower region.

The golden-haired teenager tilted her head innocently and scratched the back of it embarrassedly. "Haha! I did, didn't I? Well, they shouldn't have looked at me the wrong way and let me in. Anyways," she stalked up to her target's quivering form and threw a Scroll his way. "I need information, and you specialize in brokering it, so spill."

He sloppily caught the device in his slippery grip. The screen had two images; a blonde boy sleeping haphazardly in ridiculous full-body pajamas and the next one on the right had the violent girl before him giving the peace sign while hugging the same guy close to her chest.

"Uh…what is this?"

Yang's face brightened, "Ah, swipe the screen to the left, would ya?" She forgot to change the slide she was looking at last night in her hotel.

The greasy-haired man did as told and was granted several photos that were slightly out of focus. In them, he saw what looked to be a young man in fairly worn clothes fighting off fierce looking Grimm with a longsword and white shield. It was hard to see his face due to the black hood drawn over it, but it was clearly evident that the kid had an athletic build and significant strength, given the soulless creatures being fought didn't look like pushovers.

The last few pictures showed a more imposing figure wearing the same face obscuring cloth and holding similar weapons. Its body was covered in gothic plate armor seemingly made of Grimm bone. It was also worth noting that the armaments being held didn't have the same luster shine as the weapons in the previous images, instead they maintained a sinister midnight-black shade.

He definitely knew who this was.

"You're looking for the Grimm Knight?" the information broker asked hesitantly.

Yang's smile widened considerably. After a few weeks of dead ends, this sounded like a good start since many others she recently "contacted" didn't even have a clue who was in the picture.

"Yes, yes! You know about him?"

The suited man fidgeted and handed the Scroll back to the excited girl. "Anyone who's in the Hunter business does, especially right now since someone very high up is looking for him. Is he your boyfriend or something?"

Yang's face lit up a healthy shade of red, lilac eyes and golden hair showing signs of igniting. "Me, questions. You, answers," she firmly stated with a feral expression. "Now, elaborate, where is he?"

The scared man stepped back. "L-look, all I know is that the kid wanders around Vytal, outside Kingdom protected territory. Rumor is that he purposely tries to find powerful Grimm to kill like some blood-lusting fiend." He licked his dry lips nervously. "People say the armor he sometimes wears is made of bone from the Grimm that killed someone he loved, others suggest he is a suicidal psychopath exiled from the Kingdoms for his homicidal behavior."

Yang could feel her blood boiling in anger. It wasn't like she was mad at Jaune for becoming an overly violent Grimm-tearing machine. Or that the only way she had of finding out he was alive was by scrounging for scraps at the bottom of the informational world's barrel. No, the problem was that he hadn't come back or contacted her since his disappearance, and she still couldn't understand why.

She'd already made the connection between him and the armored Grimm soon after she started gathering stories from the rumor mill. And she knew that whatever that armor was, it royally pissed her off, since it had put a massive wedge in the way of what she wanted. NOTHING separated her from what she wanted.

The golden-haired girl shook the heated thoughts from her head to continue her interrogation. "You mentioned someone was looking for him. Who is it?"

"He, uh…" The information broker gulped apprehensively. The person he was about to mention was well-feared, a literal boogeyman in the underworld scene. "I'm sorry, but I don't wanna get wiped from existence. This guy, he's got people everywhere. If I said anything, I might as well get my gravestone ready for the morning."

_CRASH!_

His eyes bugged out as he looked at the girl's smoking fist that cratered the metal wall close to his head.

"At least he'll give you time to prepare. As for me, I don't mind giving your wall here an immediate new paint job. Red might suit the place. So, you were saying?"

"Ah, screw it! The head of the Schnee Dust Company is looking hard for him! I swear, that's everything I know!"

Yang sighed and pulled her fist back. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it? One last question, though."

"Y-yes?"

"Do you have good health insurance?"

"Huh?"

Yang delivered five swift shotgun blows to the man's belly followed by a finisher to his crotch. She threw him out the same door where all his lackeys were laying.

"That's for looking at my chest for too long, prick. Seriously, I'm only fifteen and I have to deal with creeps like this?" She dusted her hands and outfit off, taking the rear exit to leave the deadly silent, unoccupied club. There was a lot on her mind right now.

Two years ago, when she had desperately tried to locate her missing siblings in the depths of Patch's Gray Forest, she made a grave mistake. If only she had relied on patience and reason rather than wild emotion, she wouldn't have so stupidly assaulted her adoptive brother who was struggling to control some strange power.

She could still recall his distorted voice that had hints of confusion, worry, and familiarity. Because of her rash behavior, she was probably the initiator of his decision to run away. She spent many nights wondering how things could have been different if she had listened first and acted later, but what-ifs led nowhere. Action did.

"Tch!" The golden-haired girl mounted her yellow motorcycle, Bumblebee, and revved its engine several times. "Why the hell are you still out there, Jaune?" Twisting the throttle, she soared into the night streets with her long hair whipping in the wind like wild fire.

Things changed after that night. Ruby became obsessed with perfecting Crescent Rose in structure and execution of technique, exclusively studying under their Uncle Qrow. Yang knew that the poor girl blamed herself for Jaune's disappearance most of all. Then there was the strained relationship that developed between them and their parents…

"Heartless bastards," she muttered through clenched teeth. They put in two days' worth of effort to find Jaune, only to suddenly quit after receiving a letter in the mail. They never said what the contents were, but whatever it was couldn't justify letting their son wander alone out there in Remnant's volatile world. Any argument she or Ruby had against stopping their search was ultimately shutdown by their father.

That's why for the past two years, whenever free time was available, she spent it secretly chasing rumors of a young, selfless blonde-haired knight that had the power to turn into a brutally efficient Grimm mass murderer.

But really, none of that mattered. Whatever he had become, she'd bring him back to where he belonged, even if she had to give him a harsh beating to drag him back. Glancing at the Scroll attached to her motorcycle's dashboard, the golden-haired girl smiled warmly at Jaune's stupidly grinning portrait and the newly acquired information highlighted next to it.

"Looks like I'll be meeting the string-puller of the world's largest Dust producer pretty soon. Hope his security is more entertaining than that stupid club's."

XxX

_**The next day…**_

It was a beautiful clear morning outside Aurum Village, a Faunus settlement near the outskirts of Forever Fall. Red leaves flew serenely in the quiet wind, birds chirped in a song of benevolence, and blood thirsty Grimm were searching for picnics made of people.

"Grrraaahhhhh!"

Jaune sidestepped the Ursa Major's massive swing and sent a whirling horizontal slash at its midsection, barely drawing blood. "No better than a paper cut," he grumbled while dodging another mighty swipe.

"Come on, time to get serious, Jaune." The blue-eyed youth retreated back several feet. He collapsed his heater shield into its sheath form and slapped it to his hip. He then flexed his sword-bearing right arm which started generating black Dust around it. It instantly became midnight flesh covered in bone-plate.

"Sorry, buddy, but you're causing too much trouble for the Faunus in this area, and my Grimm passenger has been starving for a while now."

The Ursa growled with menacing eyes and charged straight at him.

"Bring it!" He charged forward as well, his longsword's blade transitioning from an ethereal white shine to a foreboding dark glow.

As soon as the two were about to meet in a head on collision, the blonde's body split into four after images. One hacked at the Ursa's knees to stop the creature's movement, and the next three carved at its thick neck from different angles. He reappeared behind the stock-still Grimm shortly after, in a burst of black Dust.

The Ursa's hulking body promptly fell to the leaf covered earth, its severed head rolled not too far away.

"Ugh, still not used to that one," Jaune complained while thoroughly massaging his temple with his free hand. He sheathed his sword and walked over to the Ursa Major's headless corpse. Kneeling down, he held his right hand out and patiently waited.

As per usual, the deceased Grimm's remnants became stray Dust. However, instead of flying off, a portion of it flowed into his right arm's pitch-black flesh.

"Whoa, you were one well fed Ursa, that's for sure. Thanks for the meal," the blonde knight joked as the last particles melded with him. He then plopped onto his back to lazily stare at the brilliant azure sky.

A peaceful quiet accompanied his relaxed position.

"Why is it so nice out on such a miserable day?" he spoke to the empty air, as if it would respond.

It was the anniversary of the day he discovered his unique second Aura and its connected Semblance ability. Both delivered equal burdens and blessings. On one hand, the strange font of power fed his motivation to become stronger so he could control its maddening effects, and it allowed him to save many innocent lives in the process of honing it. On the other, he had to abandon the ones he wanted to protect the most in order to gain the level of manipulation he now possessed.

To him, that was a big sacrifice. He didn't miss his adoptive parents much, even though he held no ill will towards them. He readily understood that they adopted him due to past promises and obligation. No, what Jaune missed most was Ruby's quirky behavior that always managed to put him in good spirits and Yang's friendly teasing that was followed by her embarrassing displays of affection.

"I wonder what they're doing now?"

The two girls got along perfectly fine. He'd reasoned long ago that they were most likely unaffected by his absence. It wasn't like he brought much to the equation, in his opinion anyway. Ruby was a very friendly and strong-willed girl. She was probably making friends left and right. Yang, well, she always had a way of making everything fun. Most of her leisure time must have been dedicated to dating handsome guys she'd eventually punch into a coma or hanging out with huge groups of friends.

A heavy sigh emanated from his mouth. He was doing that a lot today. Bringing his right fist into the air to grab a red leaf that would have landed on his face, he dropped his partial transformation. He watched as his temporary armor and abnormal flesh faded into translucent Dust that got swept into the comfortable breeze.

His first year of training was pure hell, he reminisced. The benefits of using his Grimm form were many; bolstered speed, strength, and defense capable of matching much lower and mid-tier Grimm he encountered in his travels. However, he would lose significant regulation over disciplined thought, reducing his capability of carrying out strategic plans or at times forcing him to inflict damage upon himself when there were signs of unreasonably mad fury.

Then there were the headaches, and the horrible nightmares that joined them.

"The heck?" Jaune's self-reflection would have continued if not for a massive pick up of wind, scattering red leaves in a twister-like spiral. He quickly jumped to his feet and briefly shielded his eyes. It didn't take long for it to calm down.

"Are you Jaune Arc?!" a deep baritone voice addressed him from above.

Jaune looked up and saw an older gentleman hanging onto a slightly ajar door of a luxurious Dust helicopter with the logo "Schnee Dust Company" painted on the paneling near the tail end. The man had side-parted gray hair, a thin build, and was dressed in a finely made dark uniform that looked like something a butler would wear.

"Please do come join me in this fine aerial vehicle, lad! You're a very hard person to find, and my employer at Schnee Manor is quite eager to meet you!" the older man said jovially. He dropped a metal rolling ladder for the blonde to use.

"_How does this guy know me and how did he even find me?" _the young knight thought to himself in suspicion. He'd spent the past two years wandering outside the public eye, training in the vast wilderness and surviving from his short visits to Faunus villages that peppered Vytal's outer Kingdom limits.

Jaune continued to stare at the vehicle warily. Another thing that made him concerned was the choice in transportation. He didn't like ANY vehicles, especially flying metal death traps. Motion sickness was one of his greatest enemies, right next to his own Grimm madness.

"I'm sorry to be rude, sir, but to put it bluntly...why should I?"

The butler's previous friendly disposition was quickly replaced with narrowed eyes and a snide frown. "Because Jaune, or Grimm Knight as some are calling you, my Master gets what he desires." He put a hand in his suit jacket and withdrew a packet that he then threw towards the youth who caught it deftly. He grinned when the blonde's eyes widened at the contents.

Jaune grit his teeth. Inside the manila folder were pictures of Yang at various shady places, many showing her walking away unharmed from flaming destruction that was most likely caused by a combination of her fiery Semblance and Ember Celica. "_Damn it, Yang! What were you doing?"_

"She's an exceptionally beautiful young lady, but she's getting too close to secrets that are meant to stay as they are, secrets. Sadly, this is all because she keeps searching for her dear little brother who ran away from home, leaving his sisters to wallow in depression."

Jaune definitely didn't like this guy, or the situation. "I'm listening."

"Haha, that's good, lad!" The butler's demeanor turned annoyingly cheerful again. "My gracious master is the current owner and head of the Schnee Dust Company. He only requests an audience with you in hopes of forming a wonderful contract that reaps benefits for both parties involved." He gestured to the ladder. "Now, if not for yourself, do this for your inappropriately nosy sister's continued good health."

Fighting back the urge to assume his alter form to unleash its chaotic fury, Jaune grasped the pegged lift and began climbing.

"Ah ha, I knew you were a smart boy! We'll continue introductions and other such formalities inside. Make haste, Master Schnee isn't the most patient of people." The giddy older man retreated into the helicopter.

As Jaune was about to reach the top, he spat out a globule of blood that had formed in his mouth from biting his lip too hard in restraint. "I hope this Master Schnee doesn't mind getting an extra-large import of Dust up his ass when I see him." He grabbed the door handle and hopped in.

"I'm sorry, lad, did you say something?"

"Ah, I just said that I can't wait to meet the brilliant man who provides the Dust many of us rely on today," he confidently lied through his teeth.

"Such a respectable young man! I'm sure he'll enjoy trading delightful banter with you!"

"Yeah, I hope so, too…"

Jaune's irises flashed a dangerous scarlet red.

**To Be Continued…**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>People seemed to like it, so I went ahead and wrote the next chapter as soon as I could out of appreciation. In this chapter, you are exposed to the confident, straightforward, and passionately ferocious female that is Yang. Also, a glimpse of Jaune's results from training is given, and then there's a bridge erected to an oncoming conflict.

If you've got questions about characterization, powers, etc., that's good! I don't intend to throw all the details out there with one scene or through a single internal dialogue session. Hopefully, most of them will be answered through character interaction in the future.

Also, thank you for the kind reviews! I'm glad that the idea I had was enticing enough to offer me a few words. And while it may not seem personal enough, I do sincerely acknowledge everyone's help in encouraging me to continue this, even those that do not review. While my lexicon is lacking, along with my ability to construct attractive sentence structure, I'll try to keep things entertaining.

Cheers!

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><p>Shout-Out to: Cowboy Bebop and Kill la Kill.<p> 


	3. Bound by Contract

**Disclaimer: **The RWBY universe is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions. I do not claim ownership, or do this for any monetary gain.

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><p><strong>RWBY<strong>

**The Grimm Knight**

Bound by Contract

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><p><em><strong>Midmorning at Schnee Manor…<strong>_

Silence permeated throughout the decently sized room lined with mahogany walls and bookcases filled to the brim with ancient looking tomes. The room's two occupants were seated at a round oak table in the center, studying a chess board with multiple glass figures lain across it.

"…" Jaune's calloused hand grasped the top of a black bishop chess piece and moved it diagonally to take the vulnerable white pawn nearby.

His bishop was promptly overtaken by a white knight piece.

"You aren't terribly good at this, are you, child?" the voice of an older man dryly asked.

"This is only my second time playing. Excuse me, sir, if I didn't practice before coming. I was a bit distracted by looming threats concerning my sister's life," Jaune replied in annoyance. Dark-blue eyes examined the board with scrutiny, determined to get at least one of his opponent's inanimate soldiers. He grinned confidently as he knocked a white rook out with his black queen.

"I'm sorry if Gregory framed my invitation in such a way, I merely meant to offer you proper incentive to talk to me privately. You need not worry about your sibling, as long as your cooperation continues past this small juncture."

Jaune watched as his queen was unceremoniously switched with its white variant. He glared at the seemingly bored man sitting across from him in a lavishly padded wooden chair. Alexander Schnee, the current head of one of the world's largest Dust distributors, was a serious-looking individual with slicked-back silver hair and cold olive-green eyes that had deep wrinkles under them, indicating no lack of chronic stress. His royal white suit was impeccably clean and further complimented his aristocratic air.

"I'm sure you didn't blackmail me to have a rousing game of chess to boost your ego. Let's get to the point already. I'm here because somehow my sister, Yang, is indirectly learning about your dirty laundry in the organized crime industry and you're worried about it," Jaune summarized nonchalantly. "Given your company's shady history with the Kingdoms' politics, I've no doubt you've got the resources to make my family's life a living hell. So, here I am, at your demand. What do you want from me?"

Alexander palmed the captured queen disinterestedly. "You're correct in most of your assumptions, Mr. Arc, except one."

"Which one would that be, Master Schnee?" Jaune asked mockingly.

"That I care about your sister's messy path of investigation. As I said before, she was merely an incentive, a convenient pawn, if you will, in capturing what I truly needed." Alexander picked up a black horse chess piece with his unoccupied hand. "The Grimm Knight."

Jaune casually leaned back in his seat and tapped the pommel of his sheathed longsword. "Are most of your _contractual invitations_ accompanied by a form of coercion?"

The Schnee president grinned in amusement. "Heh, you're pretty bold for someone in your position, child. It's refreshing to see after having to constantly deal with men that cower at even the remote possibility of meeting with me."

"Thanks, I guess," Jaune replied with no small amount of cynicism. He felt like saying more, but knew he was already dealing with a decent amount of deadly fire.

Alexander went back to examining the queen in his hand. "To answer your original question; no, not usually. I only do so when I need a truly binding agreement." He gestured to the chessboard they were playing on. "Now, to explain my circumstances and your importance, I'll use our situation here."

"_Sounds like story time,"_ the blonde swordsman internally mused, reminded of the villain monologues he read in fictional books that he went through on his downtime from Grimm slaying. Outwardly, he nodded in acceptance to continue.

Alexander motioned to Jaune's side of the board that held three remaining black chess pieces; a king, knight, and rook. "Imagine that the king there is me, and that its related pieces are my close friends and family." He then waved towards his own side, full of white figures placed in strategic positions. "And these are my enemies, the White Fang."

Jaune's demeanor became serious. The implications of this representation were obvious, but he wanted to make sure. "The defeated black ones over there_—_"

"They are those who have been slain due to their involvement with the Schnee family," Alexander finished the sentence firmly.

The blonde looked at his blackmailer skeptically. The White Fang weren't that murderous. Sure, a little more physical lately, but not to that extent.

"Don't you mean captured, or possibly converted?"

"No!" The silver-haired man slammed the table, causing the board and piece to rattle. He composed himself almost instantly and withdrew his clenched fist. "No, they're dead. I have received enough…evidence from the White Fang to say so. Though, not enough evidence to deliver a proper funeral with an open casket ceremony."

Jaune felt his stomach tie up. One of the reasons he took up the ideals of heroism was because he wanted to save lives, not end them. It was also why he chose to pursue becoming a Hunter with his sisters to fight the soulless Grimm. There was no guilt involved with killing the savage dark spawn. In his opinion, having to deal with the darker side of human nature on a regular basis wasn't very appealing. He'd leave that to the Kingdom's law enforcement.

"…I'm sorry to hear that," Jaune said sympathetically with a frown. While he definitely didn't like this conceited jerk, no one deserved having their loved ones killed off in such a way.

"In the past ten years, I've lost fourteen family members, three of my closest friends, and…" The man's aged hand firmly gripped the queen piece in it. "…my wife."

The blonde youth wisely stayed silent.

"Elise did nothing but support the Faunus. She even put forward the majority of laws that now require benefits be provided for their kind's employment! Yet, they still targeted her..." Alexander trembled as he set the queen down.

"What does the rook here represent?" Jaune asked, trying to draw the man's vengeful thoughts away from further drama.

"That, Mr. Arc, represents my insufferably disobedient daughter who wishes to become a Huntress. Her name is Weiss, and she's around your age. Unfortunately, she has a harsh personality that is further reinforced by her drive to be better than everyone around her, including me." Alexander relaxed back into his seat and heavily sighed.

"And you love her," the boy remarked.

"More than anything in the world, even if it isn't properly evident with how I show it. I've always been more inclined to use gifts of given opportunity and life lessons rather than through _loitering out_, or whatever it is your cell-declining generation calls it." Alexander clasped his hands together and stared at the blonde knight. "As you can tell from my words, that love isn't exactly reciprocated due to inefficient translation of my methods."

Jaune merely shrugged at the man's roundabout way of saying that he was inept at being a good parent. "Got it. So, you want me to…?" He left the question hanging in the air, growing tired of waiting to hear his role in all this.

"Before my wife passed away in her hospital bed seven years ago, she requested one thing of me; to raise Weiss without involving her in the family business, to let her decide her own course in life." Alexander faintly coughed into his hand. "Which I've partially done, mind you. I took some liberties to make sure she grew up to be a lady of class, as she deserves to be." He then tossed something at the amused blonde, who skillfully caught it.

It was the black knight piece.

"Despite Weiss' foolish insistence to become a Huntress, I will fully support her endeavors as best I can. To do so, I will be _employing_ you to train her to be an efficient and capable Grimm slayer, like yourself. You'll also be acting as her bodyguard for potential White Fang attacks throughout your term of service. By the time she reaches Beacon Academy, I trust that she will be significantly prepared to face her trials there, and your contract will be finished."

The Schnee president stood and briskly walked over to a well-polished red oak desk. He opened one of its drawers, withdrawing a substantial amount of papers and two manila folders.

"In exchange, I'll guarantee that your sister will be unharmed and face no punishment or charges for any current or future damage she has or will have incurred unto my associates' operations. Also," Alexander set a crisp folder in front of the wary blonde who was confused at the shift to business talk.

Jaune opened it up and winced at its contents. They were his final grades in Signal Academy, before he had left unannounced to tame his dark powers. He cringed more and more as he leafed through the rest of the material. Finally, he decided to hastily shuffle it all back into its folded prison. When it came to this stuff, the only good thing to come out of the past is history.

"Yes, your performance in school was quite abysmal. It's a wonder how you survived this long and came out as you are," the silver-haired man commented. "That's why, along with your sister's freedom of punishment, I'm offering you the chance to erase your educational past to make way for a more attractive future."

"And where would that future lay?" Jaune asked in suspicion.

Alexander responded by placing the next manila folder down, the words "Beacon Stimulus" were printed on it in bold letters.

"With Yang Xiao Long, at the prestigious Beacon Academy. If you fulfill your end of the bargain, I will essentially forge you a past undetectable of lies and worthy of admission. While your sister doesn't suffer the same level of academic inadequacy you seem to have, I'll do the same for her if she isn't already enrolled when it comes time."

When this meeting started, Jaune already knew that he'd agree to do whatever was asked of him for Yang's sake. But this newest factor, a chance to wipe his dismal school history and attend the training facility his sisters planned on going, was too much to be ignored. Originally, due to his lack of decent credentials from voluntary absence, he was set on becoming a mercenary of sorts in the Hunter community. With this, though, he would be able to gain valuable training under the veterans acting as professors at Beacon. Plus, he could use his enrollment there to contact his family again and mend the bridges he burned by running away and guiltily avoiding them. Something he was previously trying to figure out how to do, but lacked thoughts on how to tactfully do so.

"What is your answer, Jaune Arc?" Alexander's gruff tone interrupted the blonde knight's internal turmoil.

"I'll do it. However, before we go any further, I'd like to know something."

The regal man paused in his process of gathering more official-looking papers. "What would that be?"

"Why me? There are a bunch more qualified people out there leagues ahead of me in experience when it comes to killing Grimm. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely fought my fair share these past two years wandering Vytal's lands, but my skill likely pales in comparison to Hunters you could hire to do the same thing you need me for." Jaune sat up straight and placed his representative chess piece back on the table.

Alexander stood in front of his desk, absentmindedly stroking the bottom of his chin. "You aren't wrong. There are those I could hire for the same capacity of responsibilities, but you fail to acknowledge one thing."

"My employment comes at a less expensive rate?" the young swordsman joked.

"No," the Schnee president responded as he crossed his arms seriously. "It's your strength of character, Jaune, who you are. I didn't track you down out of random curiosity or for budgetary reasons; I've had my sights set on you ever since your name hit the radar. It started when one of the many Faunus villages I employ to mine Dust was saved from being torn apart by a pack of rampaging Beowolves. To be more specific, they were single-handedly saved by a blonde boy wielding a sword and shield, whose glowing white aura acted like a warm light of hope."

Alexander walked over to the table and picked up Jaune's black knight. "I wanted to reward that boy for saving my employees, but had trouble locating him. Months later, similar stories started filtering in from my other quarries. It wasn't much longer until I gathered enough details to find out who you were and began to document your path of heroism using my agents that were able to tail you, most of the time."

He placed the black knight next to the black rook.

"Jaune Arc, I am a man of great means, knowledge, and life experience. I take interest in those that will be involved with this new world's development. And you are most definitely a person of interest," Alexander said with utter confidence. "I've heard what you've done, seen how you fight, and know what makes you tick. Unfortunately, you sell yourself short, but I assure you, I've done my research. You fit all the criteria for the person I want preparing my daughter for her uncertain future, while also serving as her ally in it. Is that sufficient enough?"

"Y-yes, quite, sir," Jaune stuttered with a slight blush in his cheeks. He wasn't used to being complimented, at all.

Alexander's serious demeanor did a complete one-eighty after the teen replied. "Brilliant! Then, let's proceed with the forms."

"What the hell?" Jaune exclaimed as a thick stack of papers slammed in front of him on the oaken table.

"The first five pages are documents to be signed with the agreement that you will abide by the contents within. These contents include details regarding the appropriate execution of language, manners, and instruction while in my daughter's presence. Perverse actions towards her are prohibited, but you may admire her elegant beauty from afar without the use of eyes or hands. The paper underneath the five page consent form is an assemblage of information about what Weiss likes, dislikes, and what my recommended actions are for when she is showing signs of undue hostility."

Jaune stared incredulously at Alexander Schnee, a man that he thought to be the source of all Grimm when he first walked in to discuss Yang's destructive tendencies. Now, he was witnessing an overprotective father whose capacity to love was very disconcerting.

"Also, here is my projected schedule for Weiss' activities this month. You will receive this the day before the first of every month in your assigned quarters. Learn it, adapt to it, and treat it like breathing."

The blonde knight sucked his breath in at seeing the color-coded mess of activities. _"How does she even have time to sleep? Wait, why are there days highlighted bright red? Let's see, the legend says they're Danger Zone Days. What does tha_—oh..._Ohhh!"_

This was going to be a long two years.

XxX

_**Afternoon in Schnee Manor's West Wing Training Room…**_

"Father, who is this? He looks…"

"_Remarkably intelligent, roguishly handsome, and dangerously lovable?" _Jaune thought to himself confidently, grinning toothily as he awaited the white-haired beauty's words. Alexander wasn't lying about his daughter's radiance that supposedly came from her deceased mother. The girl had alluring ice-blue eyes, lengthy silken white hair, porcelain skin, an attractively slender figure, and an incredible set of legs. Her outfit did nothing but accentuate these breathtaking features.

"He looks strangely daft, stylishly uncoordinated, and possibly annoying," Weiss finished labeling him.

Jaune physically deflated, each detail felt like a stab to his shriveling ego.

"Yes, he may not look like much, but he is a young man of reliable character and skill. So much so that for the next two years, he will be your fighting instructor and full-time bodyguard," Alexander explained in a stern tone.

"_Here come the fireworks…" _Jaune wisely observed their interaction from the sidelines rather than get involved. He pretended to marvel at the large size of the gray-paneled room equipped with state of the art monitoring technology that was commonly used in professional combat competitions.

"I don't need either of those!" Weiss scowled. "My current private instructors are just fine, and even if those Faunus radicals break through our security, they don't stand a chance against Myrtenaster." She firmly stood her ground and looked insultingly at the blonde swordsman, then back to her father. "I'm not a damsel in distress that needs some little boy playing hero."

"There will be no arguments!" Alexander shouted, causing the girl to take a step back. "First of all, this _little boy_ has slain more Grimm than most average Hunters see in their first years of service." The silver-haired man pressed forward a bit more. "Lastly, I will not be taking any more chances with the White Fang. Their personal attacks on us have increased with frequency and intensity. You are all I have left, Weiss, and I will not have you be joining your dear mother any time soon."

"But_—_!" Weiss feebly tried to find her voice which faltered from seeing her father's authoritative anger.

"Enough! Now, I will leave you two to get acquainted, as you will be in close company for quite some time. Dinner will be served in three hours. Don't be late." Alexander walked out of the large training room through a sliding metal door that closed loudly upon exit.

Jaune scratched the back of his head nervously as the girl focused her piercing cold gaze on him. It was time to tackle one of his other greatest weaknesses, the female species. "Well, that was kind of awkward. How about I intro_—_"

"Fight me," Weiss interrupted.

"Uh?" Jaune watched the slender girl walk to the middle of the room's white tile floor. She withdrew the Dust chambered rapier at her waist and pointed it at him.

"Are you going to stand there looking more like an idiot than you actually are? I said fight me! If you're as good as my father says, you should be able to handle a defenseless girl like me, right?" Weiss snapped at the blonde. "If you can't, then I'll have sufficient enough proof to get you kicked back to whatever farm village you were raised in." She sent a snarky grin his way.

"Fine, fine." Jaune relented and walked to a spot opposite his opponent, effectively activating the room's Aura monitoring system which projected their respective bars on the east wall. It wasn't like he didn't expect this kind of reaction.

Weiss stared at her adversary whose goofy expression from before was replaced with eerie stoicism. For some reason, she felt hesitant in attacking him now. Something about the way he was presenting himself felt menacing.

"Well, are you going to take out your weapon or not? It would be dishonorable of me to attack an unarmed opponent."

Jaune simply stood there in a loose stance, deep-blue eyes narrowed and deadly serious. "I won't be needing it, Snow Princess. Just come at me," he gestured at her mockingly. "Unless there's no bite behind that bark of yours."

"Not taking me seriously?" Weiss frowned heavily as she prepared her own stance, right foot leading and left back to properly accelerate. "You're going to regret that!" She flew forward with unrivaled speed and grace, rapier glowing white at the tip, aimed at the blonde's unarmored stomach.

_CLANK!_

The thin sword bounced off the boy harmlessly.

"What?!" Weiss exclaimed in surprise, quickly dodging backwards in case of retaliation. When she looked back at the blonde he was still in the same lazy form with an insufferable smirk.

"You're better off trying to poke holes in paper if that's all the strength you've got in those stabs." Jaune abandoned his slouch and stuck his gloved hands into his pockets. "Try harder."

"You'll be Dust when I'm done with you, you arrogant, disrespectful brute!" Weiss remarked angrily as she activated the red capsule in her weapon. She spun like a ballerina and sent several flame-enhanced air slashes towards him.

"Those don't look so weak, better avoid them," Jaune muttered, wanting to keep his messy mop of blonde hair. He dodge rolled the first few and then ducked under the last batch of fire attacks, feeling the extreme heat lick at his skin in the process. He then heard a sharp cracking sound make its way towards him. _"Shit!"_ He was so distracted by the red energy barrage that he didn't see her throw a different kind of attack into the mix.

There was no time to move.

"_Got you!" _Weiss smiled triumphantly as she saw the blonde's body become encased in ice.

Jaune's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He looked down at his ice-cube predicament, a result of him being too relaxed. His head and partially free arms were the only parts of him not turned into a popsicle.

"Looks like you won't be seeing a paycheck anytime soon. I don't know your name, nor do I particularly care to learn it, but this was fun while it lasted." The white-haired girl giggled and pulled his cheek. "Just wait here so I can show my father, not like you can do much else," she said with a skip in her step.

"We're not done here."

Weiss stopped her advance towards the sliding door upon hearing the absurd statement. She turned around, left hand on hip and right one holding her rapier steadily.

"You're clearly incapable of moving. What could you possibly do?"

The blonde knight's dark-blue eyes became obscured by his hair as he tilted his head down and grinned smugly. He flexed his right hand, instantaneously changing its complexion to black.

"This!"

Weiss stumbled back as her vision was temporarily blinded by an explosion of light. When she opened her eyes, she was granted an image of the blonde swordsman standing in a cloud of shimmering blue Dust particles. All of the ice from her attack was gone, and after she blinked once, so was he.

The disoriented girl let out a pained scream as she was punched solidly in the stomach and sent up into the air. In her ascent, she could see the boy staring at her intensely from the spot she previously was. As she started to fall, she made a glyph in mid-air and crouched on it readily, poised to strike. Her abdomen felt extremely sore. If it wasn't for her Aura, there'd probably be a broken bone or two.

"You may have gotten a second wind, but there's no way I'm going to lose!" Using her glyph as a propellant, she gleamed diagonally down, prepared to send a blizzard-like flurry of stabs and slashes. However, just as she sent a vertical swipe at his body, he disappeared in a black mist of Dust.

_"How many cheap tricks does this guy have?" _she wondered in astonishment as she abandoned her aerial attack and landed safely. That's when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her thin waist.

"When you lose sight of your attacker, always be prepared to retreat and not stick to one spot. The Grimm are fierce and won't hesitate to capitalize on your lack of awareness," Jaune whispered in the shocked girl's ear, right before throwing her clear across the room in a dizzying tumble.

The aspiring Huntress yelped as her body impacted the tile. She tried to recover, but the vertigo from her air delivery was a bit too much for her to handle. When she attempted to stand up again, the sharp point of a double-edged sword met her face, only a few centimeters away from making contact. She clumsily fell back to the floor.

"Checkmate…" Jaune said to the white-haired girl whose eyes were firmly shut in frustration. The east wall's projected screen was flashing the results of their short-lived scuffle. His Aura bar had barely a sliver taken off, while hers showed nearly twenty-three percent remaining. If he chose to do anything further, he'd be tearing through her protective barrier. Either she didn't have much of her Aura potential awakened yet, or he really didn't hold back his power in the punch and throw he utilized. He was, after all, used to going all out on the Grimm.

"I-I know, damn it! I lost, I get it," Weiss admitted defeat, feeling utterly humiliated. She hugged her legs close and laid her forehead on her knees, shoulders sagging in disappointment.

"No, I don't think you do," Jaune sighed tiredly and sat down next to the lamenting girl. He rubbed her back comfortingly.

If there was anything Weiss hated more than loss, it was pity. She would have none of it. "Can't you just leave me_—_!" Her heated words caught in her throat as she felt his rough hand gently lift her chin up in his direction. Her forehead made contact with his, and their noses were nearly touching. She would have slapped him immediately if embarrassment hadn't won over hostility.

"Wh-wha-what are you doing?!" She stared at the boy's face in a wide-eyed expression. Her porcelain skin turned cherry red at the close proximity.

"Be quiet for a second…" Jaune's eyes were closed in concentration as he pulled from his natural pool of Aura. His body started glowing a soft golden-white color, which then enveloped the girl he was making skin contact with.

"Ah!" Weiss gasped as her whole body became pleasantly warmer. The ebbing pain from the bruising she received from being punched and hitting the floor was disappearing with each passing second. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

"There, done," Jaune smiled earnestly, separating himself from the unusually silent girl. He swore he heard her whimper when he did so.

Weiss shook her head from the brief period of euphoria and blushed at seeing the blonde boy smiling innocently at her. "What did you do to me?" she asked in a breathy voice, trying to steady her rapidly beating heart.

Jaune raised his eyebrow inquisitively. The regal girl actually looked worse after what he did, which wasn't his intention. "I used my Aura to heal whatever wounds you had, and replenished your own depleted supply. Basically, it's like an Aura transfusion. I learned how to do it a long time ago. My sisters back home had me use it on them whenever they needed that kind of recovery boost."

He scratched his cheek embarrassedly as he looked off to the side. "It requires me to be uncomfortably close, though." At least, that's what Yang said he had to do when he asked her for help in refining the ability back then. It never occurred to him to try it a different way. "Sorry about that. I guess I should have warned you. I get impulsive sometimes."

"I'll let you off this time," Weiss muttered, still flushed from the experience. Her ice-blue eyes examined the sheepish blonde she had yet to learn the name of, mostly due to her own stubbornness to accept the situation. While she wasn't going to stop being annoyed at her predicament any time soon, at least the boy did seem genuinely nice. She only hoped he was smart, as well.

"All right, let's start this over," Jaune broke the silence. He stood up and stuck his left hand out to help the white-haired girl up.

She blinked several times at the offered appendage.

"I'd like to begin our partnership on the right foot. My name is Jaune Arc, and I'm going to be dedicating the next two years of my life to helping you reach your goals. And, if you're willing, I'd like to do so as friends," Jaune spoke sincerely and grinned at the girl who was staring at him expressionlessly.

Weiss gripped Jaune's gloved hand and nodded appreciatively as he led her up. She studied the young swordsman for a bit, then let out a rare smile that highlighted her fragile beauty.

"Fine, Jaune. I probably don't have to introduce myself since you seem to already know who I am, but my name is Weiss Schnee. I look forward to your assistance." Weiss patted the dirt off her battle skirt. "By the way, do you always act and talk like an idiot?" she asked with a pointed look directed at the blonde boy watching her.

Jaune chuckled at her blunt words. "I don't think I do, but maybe I'll keep it up just for you, Snow Princess," he lightly teased.

Weiss stomped her foot down. "First rule, if we're going to be friends, don't call me that!"

"Fine, fine. How about…White Pixie or Snow Angel?"

"Those are even worse!"

Jaune smirked humorously at the fuming girl who looked prepared to stab him in the eyes with Myrtenaster. Maybe this contract would go faster than he thought.

**To Be Continued…**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>That was a hard chapter for me to write since it was all about setup for future chapters. The next entry will be much easier, since I can fool around with Weiss and Jaune's character development.

PS - You know what sucks? Your story getting somehow deleted in the Manage Stories area when all you're doing is replacing chapter content. I received one of the errors many others have been getting, refreshed, then got told my story was deleted [insert code string]. There goes the 25 reviews, 38 favs, and 40 watches... I know they're just numbers, but they were motivating for me. Now, I feel a bit apathetic, I guess. Sent a request for recovery, but got no response. Anyways, I'll try to move forward, even if there's less attention for this story after what happened.

Cheers...

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><p>Shout-Out to: Bastion and Top Gun.<p> 


	4. Of Beasts, Bonds, and Burdens

**Disclaimer: **The RWBY universe is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions. I do not claim ownership, or do this for any monetary gain.

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><p><strong>RWBY<strong>

**The Grimm Knight**

Of Beasts, Bonds, and Burdens

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><p><em><strong>Afternoon at Nylpheim Hills…<strong>_

Streaks of blue, red, and yellow danced through the air in magnificent strokes, similar to how an artist would dress a canvas with brush in hand. Except that the canvas was in the form of two grotesquely huge spider-like Grimm that had a tendency to assault their prey with sharp fangs coated in paralyzing venom. And the brush being used was a slender sword capable of thrusting out gruesome violence.

Weiss glided along the grassy terrain, using a red Dust chamber to enhance her counter blocks against the hostile arachnids lunging at her with reckless abandon. She switched to a light blue capsule after narrowly avoiding the more active of the two and swept her rapier low, unleashing a wave of ice that effectively trapped both Grimm creatures in a jagged ice prison. However, it didn't look like the sturdy mass would hold them long.

She quickly retreated towards an outcropped rock on the hill that had a lone blonde boy sitting on it leisurely, watching with calculating eyes.

"You all right to continue?" Jaune asked in concern as he glanced at the regal girl panting heavily near him. She was using the rock to steady her shaky balance. Endurance still wasn't one of her strongest attributes, even after all the time they'd spent the past few months trying to improve it.

"I can!" Weiss breathed in more air greedily, wincing at the feel of her dry throat. "I can do this. Stop worrying about me, Arc. Besides, you're about to lose our bet," she remarked as her hand tightened around the polished hilt of Myrtenaster, activating a row of glyphs along the gray sword's skinny blade. A second later, she was off in a trail of frost.

"It's never good when she uses my last name…" the blonde swordsman grumbled. He could only hope that she exercised more caution with the creatures known as Kyclopse.

These arachnid-type Grimm had powerful exterior protection on the topmost of their body in the form of thick, segmented bone-plating. Its bulbous underbelly was a major weak spot, which was why it stuck low to the ground and generally took quick, short lunges that didn't allow for much opportunity to capitalize on the exposure. If Hunters wanted to take this Grimm down, they'd have to employ a decent level of basic strategy.

This was the reason why he brought Weiss out here to fight them. She was due for another practical test, and the Kyclopse were an appropriately low-tier Grimm to use as material. Speaking of which, it looked like his stubborn ward was about to finish them off.

Weiss stopped in front of her iced enemies who were starting to break through their temporary encasement.

"_Patience, Weiss, time your techniques. Show that goofy blonde what you're made of!"_ With a look of determination, she swished her unoccupied hand in a figure-eight motion and then knelt down to set her palm to the ground. A black glyph expanded from the point of contact, spanning the entire area she froze.

"_One…two…" _

The Kyclopse burst into the air, sending chunks of ice in every direction.

"_Three!"_

Weiss swiped up with Myrtenaster, summoning a slew of frost glyphs that soared at her enemies, sealing them in their suspension. She then jumped high, quickly switching her weapon's Dust capsule to red in the process, and stabbed the frostbitten earth hard upon landing.

The ice maiden's Dust-formed crystals shattered into hundreds of sharp pieces that hovered over her wide glyph. The symbol pulsed with visible purple energy.

All at once, the ice shards shot up in a gravity reversed hail storm, many embedding themselves into the exposed underside of her helpless, screeching enemies. Eventually, there were no more ice fragments left and the glyph deactivated.

The unresponsive Grimm fell with a wet splat.

"Hah! Did you see that, Jaune? They didn't stand a chance!" The white-haired girl twirled on the spot in a rare display of childish elation. She struck a haughty pose as her Grimm tutor flipped off his rocky seat and walked towards her casually.

"Impressive! You didn't focus only on sword techniques and combined your Dust and Semblance abilities to dispatch the enemy. Quick, brutally effective, and well-thought-out," Jaune commended the happy girl who was glowing from his praise and her own accomplishment. He found it hard not to mimic the infectious grin on her face. "Y'know, it's unfortunate that you frown so much when you've got such a pretty smile, Ice Princess."

"Stop with the corny compliments, idiot," Weiss lightly smacked the boy's shoulder in response. Her pleasant expression didn't change, however. There were many aspects of her blonde companion that she was still learning to deal with, such as his playful demeanor. It was a side of him that she both hated and enjoyed in equal amounts. Especially when those expressive deep-blue eyes of his challenged her chilly composure to not melt in its warmly protective gaze…

"She's spacing out again…" Jaune sighed. The Schnee heiress was staring at the far hills on the horizon with glazed-over eyes. She did this often when in his company, mostly when he was talking, too.

"I don't think I'm that boring, am I?" he asked himself while idly watching the decomposing Grimm with a slight frown. His right arm twitched as he reigned in his habitual urge triggered by the scene in front of him. Normally, he would have absorbed a portion of their dissipating matter to satisfy his "other self's" hunger. But given his current company, he wasn't entirely comfortable with showing that particular facet of himself.

Partially displaying his alternate Semblance was one thing, fueling it was another. And explaining his need to "feed" on Grimmkind wasn't a topic he found easy to tackle. Plus, he was afraid to see the kind of disgusted reaction Weiss would direct at him if she ever witnessed it...

"Ah!"

The blonde swordsman looked back and couldn't help but laugh. Weiss had fallen on her petite rear, thin legs trembling as she tried unsuccessfully to get them to cooperate. This was another usual occurrence.

"Legs buckled in? Not unexpected, you were skating all over the place today. I'm surprised that fragile body of yours didn't stop listening earlier."

"Shut up and help me!"

"Yes, yes. Your faithful manservant will do as you command," he replied nonchalantly, kneeling down next to her with a teasing grin.

"Good, you do remember your place," Weiss said with a royal flip of her lengthy ponytail. It didn't do much to save face since she was sitting pathetically on the wet grass. "Sometimes I wonder why I even keep you around. Now, boost—Jaune!?"

Jaune ignored the girl's vocal upset and instead held her closer to his torso while carrying her bridal style. "Not going to happen. There's no point in training your endurance if you keep using me as a battery to re-energize yourself. It has to improve naturally, or you'll keep falling like this."

"It's not like I enjoy letting you see me fall," she frowned. It was a partial lie. She did secretly savor the result, which led to either being pleasurably rejuvenated by his touch, or carried to safety in his comfortable arms. Half the time this happened, it felt like her legs gave out for subconscious want to be pampered by her blonde protector.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter, since I'm usually nearby but…" Jaune wished he had a hand free to scratch his cheek nervously, a social tick of his. "Please take better care of yourself. I won't always be here to pick you up, even if I'd like to be. I mean, once you go to Beacon and my contract is finished, we'll be separated."

"Hmph!" The delicate beauty turned her head away from him.

As usual, when it came to dealing with Weiss at least, his words of concern seemed to have the opposite desired effect. Maybe he should start flipping a coin to decide whether he should say anything at all? Mustering up another dose of courage, he decided to continue.

"You know I'm onl—Umph!" Jaune almost bit his tongue off from the abrupt pulling of his black hoody that made him look down at his ward. She was staring at him with defiant ice-blue eyes.

"Jaune Arc, you're a fool if you think you're going to get away from me that easily. The chain I have around your neck won't disappear until I very well please. Remember that," Weiss firmly said before letting go of the black cloth and settling back down with peacefully lidded eyes.

"G-got it, Weiss," the confused blonde stuttered. Rather than trying to figure out what she meant, he decided to simply continue walking towards the Dust helicopter in close distance. Patiently waiting in the cockpit was Gregory, the Schnee family butler he had the unfortunate circumstance of meeting eight months ago in Forever Fall.

"Don't forget, I won our little wager. Ten Grimm killed and not a single one touched me," Weiss reminded, smugly grinning. "You know what that means, vassal. Three weeks of unlimited foot massages for your merciful mistress." She looked up and was a bit disappointed to see the blonde's lack of reaction.

"Psh! That's not much of a punishment. I thought I would have to dance naked around your dad while wearing a horse head mask, or something ridiculous like that. What a boring Princess I am bound to serve," Jaune grieved jokingly.

The white-haired girl shook her head to avoid any potential imagery. She then crossed her arms authoritatively with a frown. "Excuse me, but how is what I outlined not punishment? At any moment, I can request you to abandon whatever you may be doing, be it bathing or sleeping, and deliberately order you to come over, kneel down, and massage."

"Well, to be honest, you have cute feet. I wouldn't mind touching them all the time," Jaune candidly stated without shame, looking down at the girl in his arms who was turning a healthy shade of red. "In fact, it feels like you're rewarding me right now. Who else can claim they were able to caress the beautiful feet of Weiss Schnee, the fairest of them all?"

At that moment, Weiss felt very, very warm in various regions.

"Y-you are an incorrigible pervert!" she exclaimed, right before hastily scrambling out of Jaune's secure hold and running into the helicopter a few feet away. She slammed its metal door closed as soon as she made it in.

Jaune could see Gregory laughing bemusedly in the pilot's seat. It didn't last long due to the flustered girl's efficiency with slapping the poor man into silence.

"Does that mean I'm off the hook?" the blond knight wondered. He was beginning to see why Yang inappropriately teased him so much over the years. It was addictive when you had the right target.

XxX

_**Sometime later…**_

_**Early evening at Schnee Manor…**_

"Welcome back, Miss Schnee! Oh, and you too, Mr. Arc!" A young brunette woman dressed in a modest maid outfit greeted the two teens as they entered through the manor's intricately decorative front doors.

"Hey Nina! Anything exciting happen while we were gone?" Jaune asked with his characteristic slanted smile.

Weiss wasn't as receptive to the welcoming; instead she glared at the mousy maid that was trying to stutter out a response to the blonde swordsman. She swiftly withdrew Myrtenaster and shot a small ice dagger from its tip at a wall lamp across the room. It made a clear shattering noise, catching the conversing pair off guard.

"Nina, please go replace that light, promptly. We wouldn't want my father getting angry at such a trivial detail like a broken lamp, would we? Because that is what he hired our maids to deal with, trivial matters," the Schnee heiress coldly said.

"Y-yes, right at once, Miss Schnee!" Nina rushed into a nearby door to get the necessary supplies.

"What the hell was that, Weiss?"

"I'm not entirely sure what you're asking about."

"…There's a hand-sized icicle stuck in the wall, and you have your weapon out, pointed in the same direction it is," Jaune deadpanned, gesturing at the embedded shard.

The white-haired girl merely pointed her nose up in an aloof manner. "I shouldn't have to explain myself, but if you must know, I had to itch my brow," she lamely lied.

"With your sword?!"

"Ahem!" Alexander Schnee cleared his throat loudly as he walked down the steps leading to the lobby area where the two aspiring Hunters were. "It's good to see that the both of you are getting along. Mr. Arc, how did my daughter do with your most recent evaluation?"

Ignoring the weird behavior from before, Jaune smiled widely and set a comforting hand on the anxious girl's shoulder. She lightened up considerably from the contact.

"Weiss is improving by leaps and bounds. She has an amazing talent for combative strategy and really takes the time to analyze her enemy's features before initiating action. Despite her lack of endurance, she more than makes up for it with a tactile mind and flawless technique," the blonde tutor summarized proudly. He really was impressed with how far she had come in less than a year. When they started training together, she had a tendency to underestimate her opponents, hesitate at the worst times, and become sloppy from the slightest mistake in form. That wasn't the case now.

"She took out ten Grimm today; five Beowolves, three Ursa, and two Kyclopse, all without my help. I think it's safe to say that I won't be of any use to her once this year is done."

"That's not true!" Weiss exclaimed, causing the two males to look at her from the surprise outburst.

She grabbed her left arm awkwardly and looked down, taking interest in the floor's tile design. "Wh-what I mean to say is, the few times I have experienced real battle have not been exceptionally acceptable, I still have much to learn. Given Jaune's history, he definitely has an abundance of experience with the Grimm that I have yet to take full advantage of." She looked up at her father earnestly. "It will take me awhile to apply his teachings to my own fighting style, which his help will undoubtedly be needed for."

Alexander smiled at his serious daughter and then glanced at the puzzled blonde suspiciously. "Yes, I agree. While it is indeed heartening to hear that Weiss is flourishing under your tutelage, Jaune, you may be overestimating her abilities and underestimating your own wealth of disposable wisdom. Thankfully, there is time to properly share it with her. After all, you are obligated to abide by your contract's allotted time-frame," he patted the knight's shoulder roughly, which received him a grimace in response.

"Weiss, why don't you freshen up before dinner?" The silver-haired Schnee motioned to the stairs. "Exposure to Grimm blood is not healthy for young skin. Early wrinkles, they say."

"…Sure." Weiss looked apprehensive, but she acquiesced, ascending the steps slowly. She turned to speak, gaze lingering fondly on her blonde companion. "I'm calling in my reward tonight, Jaune. No excuses. Be ready." With that, she disappeared into the upper corridor area where her bedroom was located.

"Rule thirty-four, Mr. Arc."

Jaune tore his eyes away from the staircase, having been distracted by Weiss' slender retreating figure. "Uh, excuse me?"

Alexander fixed his intense, olive-green eyes on his employed bodyguard. "Rule thirty-four, document two, page three, paragraph five explicitly states; no romantic relations will be pursued with my innocently pure daughter. Penalty upon disregard of said rule includes maiming of—"

"Hold on, hold it! You don't have to restate the whole thing again. You've got nothing to worry about," the blonde held his hands up defensively.

"I don't?"

"Of course not," Jaune said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Let's see, how to put it... Do you have any sisters, Mr. Schnee?"

"No. I was brought up as an only child."

"Well, as you know, I grew up with two of them, and the way Weiss looks at me is similar to how they did." Jaune shook his head depressingly. "Actually, many women look at me like I'm their brother. It's an unfortunate part of the Arc experience that I'm trying to abandon the image of." He picked at his faded pants with displeasure. "Maybe it's how I dress?"

"Imbecile..." Alexander groaned and tried to rub away a headache that was forming. His daughter had obviously grown attached to the stupidly oblivious boy before him, and as a father, he wasn't sure how to deal with it. It was times like these that he sorely wished his wife was still with him. He decided to discard any further thought on the issue. It would be dealt with later, as there were more serious matters to deal with right now.

"Never mind, we will discuss this at a different time. At the moment, I have a matter of particular importance that requires your assistance. Let's relocate to my office." The older man didn't wait for the blonde's reply, already progressing to the second floor. The teen obediently followed, nonetheless.

When they entered the room, Jaune shut the door quietly behind them.

As usual, the SDC president had documents prepared for their discussion. He laid out a few photos and a shipping manifest with various notes scratched in next to passenger names and cargo.

"Go on, look."

Jaune did as told and scanned the contents attentively. The manifest was dated back two and a half years ago. There were many names crossed out in red ink with the word "dead" written on the side. The cargo, which consisted of Schnee Dust Company products, was noted to have been irrecoverable.

Next were the photos. Several pictures showed the scrapped remains of a massive train wreckage, most likely caused by powerful explosions of some sort, given the gnarled bends of the metal holes in each car. The rest had unfocused imaging of security androids fighting two shadowy figures; a masked man with windswept brown hair that had red streaks in it, and a girl whose bright amber eyes contrasted with the darkness of her wavy black locks.

"These two," Jaune pointed at the photos, "are responsible for all this?" He tapped the manifest, expression grim from seeing the number of people marked as deceased.

"Not necessarily," Alexander said, reaching into his desk drawer for a remote which he then clicked. The lights in the room dimmed as a projected screen came to life on the wall behind him. "This is footage from one of my downed AK-130 androids that remained operational. Watch."

Clear text went across the screen.

**ID: TK068**

**Model: AK-130 Series 3.1 [Range Opt.]**

**Memory Stamp/21:37**** West Kingdom Standard Time **

The camera swiveled peculiarly with static feedback until it focused on the harsh clash of bullets and metal polluting the audio feed.

"What do you think you're doing? We don't have time for this!" the masked man from the photo bit out sharply as he blocked a flurry of slashes, his crimson sword growing brighter with each impact. He expertly sheathed his sword and smashed his attacker in the stomach with its hilt, effectively knocking the person back towards the oddly angled camera.

It was the dark-haired girl with exotic amber eyes.

"We shouldn't harm the crew! Our orders were to destroy the cargo, not kill innocents!" the girl's conflicted voice shouted over the sound of the tracks, her hair whipping around from the train's vicious speed.

"These people stopped being innocent the moment they decided to work for the Schnee company! Now, help me plant those charges, or step aside. We're here to send a message, not a pacifist's warning. And any unfortunate circumstances that happen as a result?" The tall man firmly gripped the handle of his sword. "It's called collateral damage."

The girl's face showed obvious outrage. "This isn't right, the White Fang—"

"The White Fang, Blake, is under new leadership. And it doesn't have a place for the faint-hearted."

"I'm sorry, Adam. But I won't do this, and I won't let you, either." She cautiously touched the cleaver-shaped sheath of her weapon.

"...Fine, have it your way."

The image went haywire again, but the sound of intense combat was clearly discernible for several seconds. There was an extended period of silence right as the picture regained focus. The trench-coated male was standing over the dark-haired girl who looked to be in extreme pain while breathing irregularly.

"Consider this mercy for supporting the White Fang for so long," he said before he hopped to the train's connecting platform and cut the coupling effortlessly. His form became smaller over time due to the increasing distance between him and the slower disconnected transport. The footage faded out right as the amber-eyed female hit the floor from unconsciousness.

**Terminating record module…**

**Memory Stamp/21:47 West**** Kingdom Standard Time**

Alexander clicked the screen off, letting the lights fade on automatically.

"She failed to stop him and the train cars blew up; cargo, crew and all…" Jaune commented morosely. Even though he knew what was going to happen, he was really pulling for the virtuous dark-haired girl named Blake. "Was she all right? I didn't see any blood from whatever that Adam guy did."

"Unknown. By the time rescue response made it to the stray platform, no one was on it. Only my demolished drones remained." The silver-haired man took a seat at his desk. "However, ever since that incident, a mysterious individual has been feeding me valuable White Fang intel directly to my personal Scroll. I was, of course, suspicious at first, but the relayed information has proven to be extremely reliable, allowing me to plan against attacks of similar nature to this train sabotage. The informant likes to sign with the handle _Shadow of the North_."

"Huh, interesting moniker. Any relation to the novel by Faunus author Gillian Winfield?" Jaune curiously asked.

"Not the faintest clue, but you may ask this person once you meet him or her tomorrow morning in Vale's commercial district," Alexander remarked behind folded hands.

"…Uh, what?"

The Schnee president produced a slip of paper from his suit pocket. "Here are the details specifying the location, time, and conditions to signify your representation on my behalf."

"I guess I should be used to this by now…" The blonde knight sighed, taking the offered item without question. Sometimes he felt like a rag doll with how often he was thrown into these kinds of situations.

"The reason I am bringing this up to you under such short notice is due to having just received pertinent information from Shadow. Apparently, the White Fang are planning to carry out a stealth operation of comparable destruction to that of the delivery train from two years ago," Alexander explained, tapping the shipping manifest for emphasis. "However, the target this time is my Dust refinement factory in the industrial sector of Vale. The person spearheading the procedure is none other than Adam Taurus, the male Faunus you saw in the video."

"The bastard responsible for killing all those workers…" Jaune clenched his fists tightly.

"Yes," the Schnee president nodded sullenly. "In precaution, I have rescheduled the night-shift factory workers and replaced them with the less efficient automatons. Slower production, but a necessary sacrifice in order to ensure there are no casualties if Adam is successful."

"That's good! But…why haven't you involved Vale's law enforcement if this guy's going to be exploding a place within their territory? You wouldn't have to worry about the dent in your manufacturing speed, and security would be provided by a separate party at no cost to you," Jaune suggested while pacing to and fro.

"A reasonable question and solution," Alexander nodded. "To put it simply, the _Shadow of the North_ has voiced interest in confronting this Adam character up close themself. From the messages we exchanged, it sounds like a personal matter, but I owe this individual a favor for the abundance of information they have thus far provided without request of compensation. Without Shadow, I wouldn't even know about this planned sabotage."

The blond swordsman leaned on the oaken table in the middle of the room, expression contemplative. "That's really risky for a man like you to do. Would I be right in assuming that my job is to play fire control, in case something goes awry?"

"That is correct," the silver-haired man confirmed. "Even though Shadow has given me no cause for concern, he or she is still an unknown entity of allegiance and motive. You, Jaune, are my gambit for ensuring no harm comes to my facility, no matter what. I have notified my stipulation to Shadow, who has agreed to allow your presence, under the condition that you do not interfere unless absolutely necessary."

"Guess I'll ask what 'absolutely necessary' means when we meet. Y'know, you're throwing me into a pretty volatile situation, old man…" Jaune muttered tiredly. "I might end up having to fight two people instead of one cold-blooded, bomb-happy terrorist. Who's to say this Shadow isn't thinking about switching sides and using me in some way?"

"That is partially why you will be meeting with Shadow in the morning, to discuss strategy and discern what colored chess piece this informant is." Alexander waved his hand airily. "Though, after what I've seen you capable of, Mr. Arc, I have no problem in placing the entirety of my confidence on your ability to deal with whatever may occur. But do limit the extent of damage that may befall your person. It would grieve me to have to hire another teacher for my daughter."

"Gee, thanks," the blonde sarcastically replied, already preparing to leave the room.

"Oh, and Mr. Arc."

Jaune paused in mid-grab of the door handle. "Let me guess, you want me to buy groceries on the way back?"

Alexander stroked his chin in thought. "No, I do believe I had you do that last week." He laughed internally at the blonde's irate grumbling. "It's more of a personal request on Weiss' behalf."

That caught the teen's attention. "What is it?"

"Please avoid divulging the nature of your activities tomorrow to Weiss. Despite what you may foolishly believe about my daughter's feelings, you are at the very least her friend. Her only one, in fact, after having many of them disappear or distance themselves from the Schnee family. Hearing that you will be dealing with the White Fang will be enough to remind her of that fact, and the loneliness that accompanies it," Alexander elaborated in a somber tone.

"…I'll keep that in mind," Jaune faintly responded, promptly taking his exit. From the extensive amount of time he spent with the Schnee heiress, it didn't take him long to realize that she had no friends due to her family's circumstances. Hearing her father acknowledge it resolutely, like there was no way to remedy their situation, was unsettling.

He truly hated the White Fang more and more every day he spent alongside Weiss, an ambitious girl who hid her true feelings behind an icy-persona forged from isolation.

Generally, he made it a point to be a positive, relatively peaceful person. There was enough darkness in the world for him to lay off contributing to it. However, he couldn't ignore the violent feelings he felt for the radical organization's continuous use of violent protest. Tomorrow night, he would hopefully have an appropriate outlet for that frustration.

Jaune flexed his hands threateningly, relishing in the feel of the dark power flowing into them. "I can't wait to meet you, Adam Taurus…"

XxX

_**Elsewhere…**_

Short, wild blonde hair flowed erratically in a tempest of dark Aura power. Demonic red eyes glowed dangerously, promising pain to whoever assaulted its vision.

"Where is he?" a distorted voice growled out.

"Teams one and three have been knocked out, sir! What are your orders?!" shouted a security guard with the letters "SDC" printed on his protective vest. Around him were four men of same uniform, carrying Dust-capsuled assault rifles aimed at a blonde boy standing imposingly in front of a metal gate with an ornate frost symbol melded in the center. A butler-looking old man was slumped unconsciously against it in a rather beaten state. The area around him was scattered with motionless bodies.

"Don't fucking ignore me!" the blonde roared, whipping his arm out and disappearing in a burst of black Dust. He reappeared in front of the fearful guards who were struggling to maintain grip of their firearms.

"One more time, where is the SDC President?"

"Open fi—"

The man who was about to yell the command to shoot was sent flying into a nearby tree with an over-powered shoulder throw. He hit the wood with a sickening crack.

"I'm sorry, but that didn't sound like the answer I wanted. Who else wants me to shove wood up their ass via air delivery?" the vicious boy snapped.

"H-he's a damn monster! Screw President Schnee's orders, aim to kill!"

None of the security guards had a chance to let a single bullet fly. One by one, they were dispatched brutally. The blonde blurred to the first frantic man, grabbed him by the ankle, and slammed him into the solid dirt. Another flash of black, two men were dragged forward by their arms and then savagely flung into each other with a resounding smack. The last man attempted to scramble away, only to come face-to-face with his assailant.

"P-pl-please, I didn't even have my gun loaded! I wasn't going to shoot! Don't hurt me," the man pleaded.

"I don't care about that. All I care about is finding your cowardly, piece of shit boss so I can insert this," the boy transformed his hand into a heavily armored fist and continued, "—into his damn mouth, rip his spine out, beat him with it, and then force feed it back into the same nasty hole it came from."

"Hm. Here I thought we would be able to have a civil meeting, Jaune Arc. Are you always this…crude, in person?" an aged, smooth voice welcomed itself into the hostile situation. It belonged to a silver-haired man wearing an impeccably white suit.

The security guard took what he saw as an opportunity and attempted to run away. He didn't even make it an inch before being punched in the back of the neck and hitting the earth unceremoniously.

Jaune fixated his sinister red eyes on the nonchalant man standing at the open gate. "You kept me waiting for two hours, in a stuffy vehicle, holding conversation with that insufferable bastard butler of yours. I don't like waiting, Alexander Schnee, especially when it's for a man threatening someone I love."

"I do apologize for the wait; there were other matters of priority I had to take care of, and I couldn't very well have you tearing up my mansion with your childish behavior. You do understand, don't you?" Alexander asked with crossed arms.

Jaune pounded his fists together, expelling a burst of visible black Aura from his torso that immediately donned it in bone-plated armor. "You're in for a world of hurt, old man. I don't mind being mocked, but the moment you placed a target on my sister, you became MY prey."

The silver-haired man stroked his chin thoughtfully. "As I thought, that Semblance alteration deteriorates your mind into a primal beast. But not so much so that you cannot show restraint, as is evident from my employees who are all still breathing. Quite formidable…"

The boy-turned-Grimm decided to ignore the Schnee president's absentminded words and readied himself to charge forward. "If you survive what I'm going to do to you next, Alexander, remember something important," he snarled.

"Yes, what would that be?" Alexander was the perfect image of calm.

"No one is allowed to hurt my sisters, and I will destroy whoever dares to try. They are my loved ones. Ruby is mine…" Jaune crouched low in a sprinter's stance, wisps of dark Aura flowing around him dangerously. "…and Yang is mine!" He rushed forward with bullet-like speed.

However, he didn't notice Alexander Schnee's body flicker with static disturbance.

Jaune threw a massive haymaker to the man's skull that sailed harmlessly through it, causing him to tumble forward into a recovery roll. He angrily growled at the warped hologram. "You cowardly fucker! You're hiding behind fancy light effects instead of coming out here with honor!"

"Of course I am. However, that doesn't mean I'm a coward or dishonorable, only cautious. Which, from seeing how you are ignorantly reacting, was the right thing to be," the silver-haired Schnee frowned. "I do suggest you calm down before arriving to my doors."

"Do tell why?" The blonde dispersed his transformation and postured himself coolly, his crimson eyes and furious expression slowly changing into stoic normalcy.

"Think of me as a universal trigger, Jaune. The moment I am pulled, be it from injury or death, shots from an innumerable amount of aimed guns will go off. The results can be both literal and political, depending on my mood. If you intend to hurt me, then also be prepared to hurt your family," Alexander warned.

"Damn it..." Jaune muttered.

Alexander's hologram turned its back. "Now, please advance one mile northeast till you reach my mansion. I wish to meet with Jaune Arc the White Knight, not the Grimm Knight. Your darker side seems to prefer crass language rather than the lighter one who consumes classic literature like water."

"Are we going to have a book club discussion?" Jaune asked in a cheeky tone.

"Better. We will be playing chess." The refracted image fizzed out.

The blonde swordsman sighed tiredly, looking around at the violence his Grimm-self caused, and then made his way towards the mansion, out of view from the minuscule cameras embedded in the property gates.

**[] Rewind to time bookmark 00:04:45**

"No one is allowed to hurt my sisters, and I will destroy whoever dares to think otherwise. They are my loved ones. Ruby is mine…and Yang is mine!"

**[] Rewind**

"They are my loved ones. Ruby is mine…and—"

"YANG, what are you doing?! We're in the same room together, sis!"

The golden-haired girl tore her lilac eyes away from her Scroll screen to look at her hysterical little sister. She pulled her ear-buds out. "Huh, what's up?"

"You're touching, y'know, where the birds meet the bees and…" Ruby trailed off, blushing a shade of red comparable to that of her hood. She was sitting on a bed opposite her sister, polishing the glossy metal of her Crescent Rose.

Yang glanced down and indeed, her right hand was rubbing promiscuously over her brown short shorts. She pushed her Scroll away and laughed embarrassedly with her hands behind her head. "I, uh…"

She couldn't think of a valid excuse. How could she properly explain, to her little sister, that she was getting aroused from watching Jaune's violent display of love? Coupled with the way he possessively called her "his" and...continuing this line of thought would only put her right hand back to work.

"Oh, were you looking at the latest Achieve Men video?" Ruby inquired.

"Yeah! It had Gavino in it, and you know how much I like his…big nose?" Yang awkwardly snatched the opportunity to change topics. Though, her mind was elsewhere, thinking about the hacked footage she was watching. It was one her most recent pieces of salvaged evidence she had of her adoptive brother. It was also her favorite. But tomorrow, it might as well be trash, because she would have the real thing in front of her.

"Do you think we'll actually see Jaune tomorrow? Our last trip was a total failure." The dark-redhead lovingly set her folded weapon to the side and then looked at her sister apprehensively.

"Trust me, sis, I've covered my bases. That sneaky bastard may have made us chase a bunch of false leads these past few months, but I've got solid information this time, straight from the underworld grapevine!" Yang grinned.

All it took was for her to Scroll message an information broker known as _Shadow of the North_. She did it out of desperation, after having been led to five different abandoned mansions owned by the SDC president. The guy was extremely paranoid; moving to a new property once every three years under false identities and keeping the previous ones for deception. Getting into contact with him was also next to impossible, as he arranged meetings on his own choice and terms. Consulting lawyers or police about any of this was entirely out of the question, as well, since he had his hands deep in both those cookie jars.

Luckily, Shadow pointed her in the right direction by providing extensive details concerning Alexander's current residence and media files showing Jaune's continued presence there. Oddly enough, the transaction only required her to provide verification of her identity by meeting at a café in south Vale and sitting there for ten minutes. No one came, but as soon as she stood up to leave, her Scroll was flooded with juicy documents, pictures, and videos.

"Sooo…what's our strategy for operation Save the Jaune?"

Yang brought her mind back to reality and reassumed a comfortable position by laying on her side to look at her little sister. "We're going to charge straight in, of course!"

"Seriously?" Ruby asked dejectedly. She was not the least impressed with the golden-blonde's answer.

"You have a problem with it?"

"Well...yeah. It's boring."

"We'll be rushing through gunfire, knocking out whoever's stupid enough to get in our way, and then escaping with Jaune against a horde of private thugs! It's pretty much like living that one movie, Blitz Hour. How is that boring?" Yang was obviously offended.

"It would be SO much cooler if we sneaked in using the veil of night, moving right under the enemy's nose while stealthily—"

"Let my stop you right there, sis," Yang interrupted her starry-eyed sister. "First off, our weapons aren't exactly the most quiet, and neither are we. Second, stop reading Jaune's East Kingdom ninja novels, they're rotting your head. And last, THAT strategy is boring, not mine."

Ruby puffed her cheeks with air and then pouted. "You're a jerk, but I guess you're right."

"Of course I am! Uh, right, that is."

"It is pretty smart, too," the dark-redhead said as she plopped backwards, letting her head bounce on a soft white pillow. She stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I mean, we're the blackmail material being used against Jaune, right? If we get hurt, Mr. Schnee loses his leash, and big bro goes Semblance berserk like we saw in that video you got. So, what can he really do if we appear unexpectedly at his doorstep and beat up all his security?"

"Heh, yeah, that's what I was totally going for," Yang nervously laughed. Honestly, she just wanted to beat the hell out of everyone Schnee-related and finally bring her idiot brother home to help her grind out some frustrations of a physical kind.

Ruby spread herself wide eagle and giggled happily. "I can't wait to catch up with Jaune! We'll talk about Crescent Rose's upgrades, how awesome I've become, compare weapons, watch Snake King: The Rival Clan Sto—"

"Wait, wait, wait! Who said you get to spend time with him first, sis?" Yang glared at her.

The dark-redhead turned on her side and smiled impishly. "The younger sister always takes priority over the OLDER one."

"You little brat…" The golden-blonde stood up, pillows held threateningly in both hands.

Ruby flipped up, her own pillows held at the ready as well. "Bring it on, Sister Bear!"

"You asked for it!"

The room became polluted with the sound of female laughter and soft impacts.

It was a nice night to have in precedence of the next day, which was guaranteed to be full of nonstop fighting and long-awaited reunions.

**To Be Continued…**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>And there's the second setup chapter, which leads to the last few chapters of this story's Pre-Beacon Arc. I'm honestly looking forward to wrapping this all up to dissolve it in a canon-ish storyline environment.

As always, thanks for all your kind words and support. It helped push me through writing this a bit faster. It's REALLY hard for me since I'm no Hemingway. I have no idea how fanfic authors like Kenchi618 and AlphaDelta1001 can pound out such legible material in so short of time. Anyways, time to sod off to Durham to fulfill another contract. Would you kindly review?

Cheers!

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><p>Shout-Out to: Devil May Cry, Nico Nico Douga, Rules of the Internet, 1986 novel Shadow in the North, Gavin from RT, Achievement Hunter, God Save the KingQueen, and Basilisk: Kouga Ninpou Chou.


	5. Facing the Past to Seize a Future, P1

**Disclaimer: **The RWBY universe is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions. I do not claim ownership, or do this for any monetary gain.

* * *

><p><strong>RWBY<strong>

**The Grimm Knight**

Facing the Past to Seize a Future

Part I

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><p><em><strong>Early morning, atop The Eye of Petrin… <strong>_

Dark blue eyes coolly stared at the shatter-phased moon that was soon to be replaced by the rising sun in the twilight sky.

"I bet the moon was beautiful before the Great Grimm Wars," Jaune muttered, continuing his idle observance. From his days in Signal Academy, he remembered reading history textbooks that often referenced to ancient drawings where the moon was shown to behave differently in its cyclic transitions. However, something occurred during mankind's time of uprising against the Grimm which led to a drastically different celestial body. While many of Remnant's population found its visual shift in time radiant and poetic, he merely felt a sense of foreboding every time he saw it.

But that was likely due to its ominous appearance in his many nightmares.

"Come on, you're nervous enough as it is. Lighten up, Jaune," the blonde swordsman chastised himself as he casually leaned against the gargoyle sculpture next to his seated place on the roof's ledge. According to Vale's large clock tower in the center of the city, it was almost six o'clock. Fifteen minutes from now, the Shadow of the North was scheduled to meet with him on this precariously tall building's rooftop.

It was an interesting meeting place, given the stone structure's historic background dating back to the founding of the four Kingdoms. It was used as a lookout tower during Vale's time of construction way back when. The Shadow of the North had a taste for relics, it seemed.

Jaune returned his distracted gaze to the book in his left hand. "Chapter Nine: The Noble Archer of Vytal…" he read morosely.

This was the story Ruby and Yang constantly requested him to read to them when they were younger. It was a grand retelling about a real hero named Artimus, an experienced ranger who wandered the lands of Vytal not too long before any of the Kingdoms surfaced. The young man went to amazing lengths to uphold selfless ideals, facing hordes of vicious Grimm with nothing but two short blades at his side and a large ebony bow strapped to his back. For many years he saved a countless number of lives without want of reward, simply moving on to the next area he felt might need his aid.

Artimus' campaign of valor met its end on a hill drenched in dark-crimson blood. While he was strong enough to protect Vytal's patches of struggling humanity, he wasn't fast enough to intercept the rampaging force of Grimm that tore through his home village in his absence. When he came upon the gore and destruction, he swore vengeance and chased after his cursed targets.

He encountered them on a large viridian field and began his assault atop a grassy knoll.

Hundreds of Grimm died without warning, pierced by a rain of arrows that Artimus shot into the air with ungodly speed. Those that didn't fall were disposed of by brutal, decapitating slashes from two white gleaming swords. However, the hero was mortal and therefore prone to eventual weakness. Grievous wounds built up on his body. For every kill a cut, ten more a gash, and so on. After slaying the last of his soulless enemies, he crawled to the top of the lonely hill he started on, bleeding fatally with each inch of ground covered. In his final moments, he fell to his back and smiled serenely at the cloud peppered sky above him, satisfied with the life he led.

That's how the glorified version went.

While it wasn't widely known, Artimus kept letter correspondence with his family, friends, and lover during his travels. A descendant of his gathered those letters and released them as a collective work titled _Vytal's Tragic Hero_. A fitting name due to the twisted reality divulged within.

In his letters, the ranger confessed how he continually sacrificed opportunities to help smaller communities so that the larger ones would thrive and hopefully bolster mankind's chance for survival. The mental damage of such decisions broke him, and his relationships. His family treated his depression as a hopeless cause, his friends grew tired of trying to ground him for his own happiness, and he separated himself from his lover so she wouldn't be harmed from his constant exposure to danger.

In Artimus' last years, he became a reclusive savior weighed down by hedgehog's dilemma; it wasn't long till the letters turned into private journal entries instead, having no one else to share his thoughts with. The last chapter of the book contained a single entry by him that revealed a man who was tired, hopeful, and ready to stop his heroic crusade to finally pursue the life others wanted him to have.

Until, that is, he came back to a home lying in ruins. The rest was fiction.

Reflectively, Jaune mused on his greatest motivator for wanting to enroll in Beacon Academy; his two reckless sisters who grew up on fantastical versions of stories such as this one.

"I might as well add Weiss to the list," he said to himself, thinking about the stubborn white-haired female he grew to care for. Despite her already impressive skill in fighting, she was fragile as well. He felt the same burning urge to protect her as he did for Ruby and Yang.

While he acknowledged these girls were strong in both body and mind, he knew how vulnerable they were to their own emotions. Ruby's naively optimistic view of life was doomed to shatter at some point during her training as a Huntress. Yang's devil-may-care attitude already landed her in a bad situation. And Weiss was too headstrong at times to ask for help.

If any of them ever fell, he'd be the one to pick them up or cushion their fall. And unlike the legendary Artimus, his priorities relied on the safety of his loved ones first, others second.

Setting the worn book down, Jaune hopped off the stone edge to stretch vigorously. He cleared his mind of thoughts concerning the future. After all, he was getting ahead of himself. There was another year left for him to accomplish his duties as Alexander's favorite whipping boy.

The clack of heeled-boots hitting the rooftop's surface broke the atmospheric silence.

"Hm, _Legends of Remnant's Rise. _A modern hero who reads about heroes of the past…" a mellow feminine voice spoke.

Jaune turned around to examine his unexpectedly early company. Unfortunately, he couldn't discern much from the cloaked and hooded figure in front of him. She was obviously female, given her alluring smooth tone and the visible curves of the thin dark-purple cloth hiding her body. He looked at the only exposed part of the newcomer, a pair of soft lips.

"I'm hardly a hero, just another fan who admires their accomplishments," he responded with a slanted smirk.

The mysterious female cocked her head to the side. "You are Jaune Arc; Grimm Protector of the Stray Faunus and White Knight of Forever Fall."

"The name's right, not sure about the titles. Though, I did tend to help out Faunus settlements with their Grimm problems when I traveled around. Whatever stories you heard were probably over exaggerated," the blonde swordsman said as he extended his hand good-naturedly. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Shadow of the North."

"Likewise, Grimm Knight," she quietly replied, shaking his offered appendage. She then retreated her hand to pull back her hood carefully, revealing a pretty face framed by long, wavy dark hair topped by a black bow.

Jaune's eyes widened in recognition. His reaction wasn't missed by the dark-haired girl.

"I must look familiar, assuming Alexander showed you the video he recovered of Adam and I from over two years ago," she said, staring at the blonde with piercing amber eyes.

"He did…your name is Blake, right?"

"Correct. And as you can guess, I'm an ex-member of the White Fang," Blake declared. "What you saw in that footage…wasn't my proudest moment. Because of my failure, innocent people died that night." She vividly recalled the event that forced her to see the organization she devoted herself to in a different light.

Jaune noticed how Blake's bitter statement was accompanied by a look full of self-hate and regret. She definitely had survivor's guilt concerning the incident.

"As a form of retribution, you became the 'Shadow of the North' and started giving Alexander intel to stop attacks like that from happening again," he surmised aloud.

Blake favored the blonde with an appraising eye. "Yes, that is one of two reasons I took up that alias and helped SDC's president. The other is because I naively believed that I could change things by fighting from the shadows. However, from my experience these past few years, I've learned that nothing I desire will come true if I don't begin fighting in a more direct manner."

"Can't disagree with you there; sometimes it's best to be blunt with your approach, but that really depends on what your goals are. What is it you fight for, Blake?" Jaune curiously asked with a disarming grin.

The dark-haired girl stared at him with a straight-face as a strong morning breeze washed over them, rustling their hair and clothes. Discreetly, she unlatched the clasp of her flailing cloak and let the high wind carry it away in its path, revealing the interesting attire he saw her in from Alexander's video.

"I fight for many things, Jaune Arc. Mainly, I fight for peace," Blake stated in a calm tone, arms crossed under her chest. "Peace for the discriminated Faunus who are still shackled by the ignorance of others, and peace for those too weak in this cruel world to fight against the true rulers of our existence, the Grimm. How about you?"

Jaune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "My reasons are a bit selfish when compared to yours."

Blake merely sent him an amused grin. "Humor me."

"I fight…" the blonde teen started with a serious expression, picturing three particular individuals in his mind. "...I fight to protect those I love. Unfortunately, the people I care for are determined to become Hunters. So, I'll do everything in my power to make sure their dreams become a reality, and that they don't get hurt in the process."

The dark beauty let out a series of muted chuckles covered by a delicate hand, tickled from the blonde's dramatic delivery.

"H-hey, I didn't think you meant humor in the literal sense," Jaune exclaimed timidly with a burning face.

"Sorry. I just find your passion entertaining," Blake apologized as she slowly brought her hand down. "You aren't selfish for wanting to protect those close to you. I might even be able to help you as your partner, once we reach Beacon Academy."

"You're going to Beacon? Wait, how did you even know I was planning to go there?"

The dark-haired girl blinked owlishly at her stupefied, blonde company. "That's right. I haven't told you what my plans are for tonight's operation, have I? You must have been wary of me this entire time, knowing what you do."

"Eh? No, not really," Jaune waved her concern away nonchalantly.

"You do realize I used to work with Adam, and that he is the person we will be seeing at the SDC facility, right? It's quite reasonable to be suspicious, I won't take offense," Blake explained.

"Why should I be? Despite the shady nature of your profession, you've been pretty forthcoming with your information. Hell, you even revealed your identity to me instead of hiding it till later," Jaune shrugged. "You've also saved numerous innocent lives by giving Alexander your intel at no cost. It's hard to be suspicious of someone as noble as you, Blake. White Fang history or not, I trust you because of your respectable character. So, whatever you have planned tonight, I don't mind helping you accomplish it."

Blake blushed at the blonde's sincere words. She couldn't think of a time when such a weighted compliment had been directed at her. Bashfully, she looked down, finding it hard to come up with an appropriate response.

"…Thank you, Jaune. I won't misplace your confidence in me. I promise."

Jaune leveled a small grin at her. "I'll hold you to that. Now, let's get down to business."

"Right," Blake acknowledged his request with a nod. "This evening, I intend to cut all ties to my past and abandon my position as an Information Broker so I can pursue a different future. But before I do that, I want to try one last time to dissuade the White Fang from continuing their violent form of protest. Consequently, Adam is one their top operatives, influentially high in their ranks. If I convince him that their current methods are ineffective, then I can at least walk away knowing I've done what I can, for now."

"Will that work? The Faunus population's disgust for the White Fang's activities haven't done much to stop them. Also, are you sure Adam will be receptive to your advice? He doesn't seem like someone that's easy to reason with, and he obviously doesn't mind the bloodshed."

"I have thought about both, and yes, it may all be for naught, but this is all I can do with what little power I have. I'm ready to close this chapter of my life with no regrets. Whatever happens tonight, please understand that Adam is my responsibility. The protection of the SDC facility is yours," Blake said firmly, giving the blonde knight a hard stare to accentuate the finality of her statement.

Jaune stepped over to the roof's waist-high ledge and leaned on it casually with his arms crossed. "…Fine. But if you're in danger, or I see him hold up a button for some fireworks, I'm jumping straight in to take him down. No arguments," he responded with equal resolution.

"I appreciate your concern for my safety, however…" Blake put her hand behind her back and swiftly pulled out her weapon of choice, a katana with a compact pistol built into its hilt. She then collapsed it into a variant form so that it now looked like a sickle fused with a high-powered firearm. "I'm not weak or unprepared. Come what may, I can handle anything with Gambol Shroud."

Jaune shook his head dismissively. "I wasn't judging you. I just want you to consider your opponent. You know him better than I do. Will Adam pull his punches because of your past relations? Last time you saw him was in combat, right?"

Blake instantly recalled the final moments of her battle with her former associate. That fateful night, he was about to stab her through the stomach with his sinister blood-red sword when he scowled at the last second and chose to slam the flat of his blade against her temple instead. It was brief, but she had felt his intent to kill her. Time most likely nurtured what hate he had for her.

"I see where you're coming from…" she dejectedly admitted as she sheathed her weapon.

"_Way to be a downer,"_ Jaune chastised himself, seeing the dark beauty's downtrodden expression. He should have disregarded her misinterpretation and simply accepted her words. Besides, it wasn't like she could sway him from getting involved if her situation turned dire. She was well-intentioned and merciful, someone worth protecting, and the polar opposite of the guy he wanted to break the face of.

Feeling uncomfortable from the prolonged silence and the girl's gloomy demeanor, he decided it was time to steer their conversation elsewhere.

"This future of yours, mind if I ask what it entails?" Jaune's question caused the dark-haired girl to break out of her funk.

"No, I don't mind at all." Blake gave the blonde swordsman a pleasantly amused grin, appreciating his not-so-subtle attempt to divert her attention away from depressive thought. She wandered over to his side and mimicked his position, leaning back on the cold stone with her arms behind her back. "I want to become a Huntress at Beacon Academy. If I can get certified there, I'll be able to accomplish both of my goals. Two birds with one stone, as they say."

Jaune glanced to his side, observing how the girl calmly stared at the peaceful morning sky. "That's right, fighting for peace. If you become a Huntress, you can protect the weak and use your reputation to act as a figurehead for Faunus rights. The Hunters that come out of Beacon are especially well-respected in society due to the strict graduation requirements. You need to excel in both general and combat education."

Blake looked over at her affable company with evident praise in her amber eyes. "You're more perceptive than I expected. Not many take notice of the other types of power that accompany a successful Hunter career in our modern day life."

Jaune idly shrugged. "I've read an extensive amount about accomplished Hunters, comes with being a hero enthusiast. Anyway, If they aren't educating other hopefuls in combat school as a professor, they tend to pull contract work with the Kingdoms or take up politics instead, using their fame to get important positions," he explained as he met the girl's amber gaze. "I figured you'd lean towards the latter, since it has the greatest potential of helping the Faunus."

"The more I talk to you, Jaune, the more I feel secure with the idea of having you as my partner at Beacon." Blake smiled demurely at the blonde knight.

"That's the second time you've brought up that 'partner' thing. What does that have to do with Beacon?" Jaune raised his eyebrow curiously. While he was knowledgeable about most subjects Hunter-related, it was limited when it came to the combat academy education system. Graduation requirements were the only part of it he knew…

Just now, he realized that he would have to participate in general classes again once he hit Beacon. It would probably be a good idea to start paying attention to the lessons Weiss received from her private tutors to brush up on his lack of basic academic knowledge. He mentally grieved, feeling an impending headache from thinking about his worst subject, Math. What was the point of learning how to calculate the length of your shadow at morning and noon, followed by measuring its area? He was preparing to fight creatures of darkness with his pointy sword, not the end of a ruler!

Clueless of the knight's inner turmoil, the dark-haired girl answered.

"Beacon Academy is well-known for partnering students into teams for their four years of training. As you know, there aren't many Hunters who go solo, so getting used to team dynamics is an important part of the curriculum," Blake explained sagely, watching the blonde soak in the information. "Unfortunately, the ritual associated with the team formation isn't as public. What is known is the fact that you're stuck with who you get, which is why I want to make sure I get someone I can tolerate and _enjoy_," she finished, unintentionally accentuating the last word with a slight blush.

Jaune was, of course, oblivious to both cues.

Heavily sighing, the blonde propped his left elbow in his right hand and rubbed his chin nervously. "I should really start researching this Beacon place before I get sidelined by some custom of theirs I don't know of. I never had to worry about that in Signal. What beginner academy did you attend, Blake?"

"Hm? I've never attended a combat school before. Everything I know is from independent study and my time in the White Fang," the dark-haired girl responded casually without worry.

"Seriously? Then how are you going to get into Beacon? Even I know you have to have damn good grades and professor recommendations to get considered for enrollment there."

Blake smirked coyly. "I'm going to utilize the same service Alexander is providing you upon the completion of your contract. While I do operate with information on a regular basis, I specialize in gathering it. President Schnee, on the other hand, is a master at fabrication. After tonight, I'll join you on your return trip so I may meet with him. You know him well. Do you think he'll reject my request?"

"Ha, given everything you've done for him? Not at all. The old man's more appreciative of your help than you think. A simple background modification shouldn't bother him," Jaune reassured her.

"That's good. I didn't want to force my hand by threatening to release files concerning his illicit activities, such as blackmailing you into his employ."

Jaune looked at the female broker inquisitively. "All right, I have to ask. You mentioned my time wandering around Vytal, my plan to go to Beacon, and now my circumstances with Alexander. How do you know all this?"

Blake gave the blonde knight an amused look. "You haven't made the connection yet? I'm one of the agents President Schnee hired to keep tabs on you before the formation of your agreement. It was the only task I had him pay me for."

"Ah, well that explains part of my past," Jaune nodded in acceptance. "But shouldn't you have stopped after I met the old man then?"

"I…" Blake began, and then trailed off into silence. She set her poker face on display as she wracked her head for an appropriate cover up. She wasn't going to admit that her fondness for the White Knight led her to be a bit invasive with his life after the SDC President took hold of him.

It was an attraction that sprouted from watching afar as Jaune valiantly saved her people, the Faunus, on a regular basis. During that time, she grew into a comfortable routine of shadowing him from the morning he would clumsily wake up to the end of the night when he would read his books aloud till sleep embraced him. You could learn a lot about a person from watching them when they believe no one is around to see their best and worst qualities. And Jaune's stack of endearing qualities dwarfed the bad by far, in her opinion at least.

On multiple occasions, she entertained the idea of directly involving herself with his travels. However, it would have conflicted heavily with her other activities, which involved analyzing the White Fang networks and assisting various clients to earn income for Beacon's future expenses.

It was a disappointing day when Alexander's butler unexpectedly showed up to seize her subject of entertainment, even if it was followed by a hefty sum of money transferred into her account. A week later, the blonde knight's situation still plagued her mind, so she hacked into Alexander's Scroll for information and access to his cameras, thankfully finding what she desired. From there, casual observance turned into ritual ceremony, making a sizable imprint in her collection of files related to the Grimm Knight.

She wasn't a stalker, by any means. She was just a motivated young woman who found someone worthy of her attention.

Her large data collection was the main reason it didn't take her long to respond to the request of Jaune's eldest sister, Yang. As it stood, she had the material ready, and she personally felt the troubled swordsman was long overdue for a family reunion. Plus, she wasn't comfortable with how close he was getting to the Schnee heiress he was guarding. Getting his sisters implanted back in his life would throw a much needed wrench in that girl's path.

She was done pulling strings from the shadows; it was time she attacked from it. This applied to all avenues of her life. The first step was Beacon, next her career as a Huntress, then her fight within society's cesspool known as politics. And hopefully, given enough manipulation, Jaune would be at her side during it all. She needed a light to guide her from the encompassing darkness, and so did he.

On a different plane of existence…

"Come on, right in the middle of conversation?" Jaune exclaimed as he waved a hand in front of the glassy-eyed dark beauty at his side. What was it about him that made these girls space out randomly! He walked in front of the dazed female and shook her shoulders to bring her back to reality.

"Huh?" she dumbly said, amber eyes looking up to see the blonde's exasperation.

Sighing in resignation, he didn't even bother to call her out. "You were about to say something?"

"R-right," Blake stuttered uncharacteristically, face warm due to her possessive thoughts and awkward reaction. At least she had a proper defense ready. "The reason I knew about your circumstances afterward is because of your sister, Yang Xiao Long. A few days ago, she asked for my assistance in regards to your whereabouts. I broke into Alexander's security and learned what I could."

"_You're the most persistent person I know, Yang," _Jaune thought as he tiredly palmed the front of his face. "How much does she know?"

"Not much. I gave her a few videos showing that you're physically fine and a document or two detailing the duties you have working under Alexander, not the conditions behind it," Blake lied. She didn't want him to brood over the idea of seeing his sisters right now, especially given how cautious he probably was about their activity tonight.

"Tch…I'm in for a huge beating when I see her at Beacon, but I deserve it. It's going to be hard earning both Ruby and Yang's trust again after how long I've ignored them," Jaune lamented while looking at his feet guiltily.

This piqued the dark-haired girl's interest. She never understood why the blonde distanced himself from his family, only that it was related to his malicious-feeling Semblance power. However, due to seeing his dismissive expression, instead of asking him his reasons she would extend the same courtesy he gave her earlier; a change of topic.

"Do you like coffee?"

"Uh, I actually prefer tea, but I don't mind an occasional cup of brown gold," Jaune replied. He brought his deep-blue gaze to level with the girl across from him, welcoming the chance to switch focus.

"Great. There's a pleasant café nearby called _Schatz Kiste._ They serve the best—"

A reverberating ring of cast metal being struck hard interrupted her sentence.

Surprised, Jaune glanced at Vale's central clock tower which had its hour hand pointed at seven. "Wow, I didn't even hear the six 'o'clock bell during our conversation. Can you believe we've been talking for about an hour?"

"Talking? I thought you were interrogating me the entire time," Blake dryly said.

Jaune flinched at her sharp tone. "I…did I really come on that strong? Sorry," he bowed low in apology.

The girl let out a melodic chuckle.

Standing straight once again, the blonde sighed. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

"Possibly," Blake replied humorously.

"You're as playful as a cat," Jaune muttered.

Hearing him, Blake smiled tauntingly. "Tell me, you know I'm a Faunus. Have you guessed what physical characteristics I may have?"

Jaune crossed his arms and stared at the dark-haired girl for a few seconds. He'd actually thought about this the moment she revealed herself. "Let's see, I know it has be ear related, and that your black bow is hiding it..."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Blake asked in surprise, patting the aforementioned cloth to make sure it was still on.

"Your bow twitched like crazy every time a bird flew near us or a vehicle below passesd by. I pretty much assumed your extra pair of ears were being sensitive to the sounds. Anyway, I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say you have the ears of a puma."

"Wrong," Blake smirked at his ridiculous answer as she undid her black ribbon, revealing two black cat ears. "If you had said feline, I would have given you some leeway."

Jaune glared at the Faunus girl with great severity. "Blake, given everything we talked about, would you consider me an acquaintance or friend now?"

Blake looked at the serious blonde confusedly, perplexed at his off tangent question and flip-switched personality. "While we've only just met, I would like to think of us as friends. Why?"

"Then please, as my friend, accept the fact that all great men have weaknesses, even I," Jaune said with guilty conviction, gesturing to himself by laying a hand on his chest.

"Where is this coming from? And…what are you doing?"

The blonde knight had his eyes scrunched closed and both hands in front of his face, held together in a praying fashion.

"I'm apologizing in advance to you. The urge. My weakness. It's too hard…to resist!"

"Urge? What do—Jaune?!"

The swordsman disappeared in a yellow blur and came up right behind her, hands rising steadily to the top of her head.

"D-don't do it!" she turned back and pleaded.

Jaune's expression was grim as his deep-blue eyes bore into her desperate amber pools.

"There's no turning back. I have to do this. Jaune Arc NEVER backs down."

He then started rubbing her unveiled Faunus ears without remorse.

"Whoa, these are way softer than I thought they'd be!" Jaune said in excitement as he unknowingly stimulated the dark-haired girl who slumped against him at first contact.

Blake's protests caught in her throat as she tried to hold back sensual moans that threatened to come out as purring, triggered by the gentle rubbing ministrations. He was very skilled with his hand movements, expertly touching different parts of her tender ears without twisting or pulling. She wasn't used to the pleasurable attention, and it didn't help that the object of her secret affections was administering it.

This went on for two minutes, until she couldn't stand it anymore.

"J-Jaune, please…I ca-can't—"

"Can't what?"

Her body shivered in tingles as a wave of foreign pleasure coursed through, causing her to lose feeling in her legs.

"Blake?!" Jaune promptly stopped his actions and caught the unresponsive girl in his arms. Looking down, he saw her dreamily grinning with half-lidded eyes and an extremely flushed complexion. He slowly knelt down to the stone surface so he could lay her head on his lap.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to cause...well, whatever just happened."

"That's…that's all right, Jaune. I'm fine. In fact, that felt…amazing. Next time, though, please give me a better warning," Blake breathily said to the worried blonde. She was fortunate there hadn't been any extreme _residual_ effects. "I will need a few minutes to recover," she drawled out with a delicate smile.

"Sure, take all the time you need," Jaune hesitantly grinned back at the dark beauty as she closed her eyes peacefully.

"_Note to self, develop resistance to compulsive urge to touch soft-looking things, especially Faunus ears. Apparently, they're very sensitive,"_ he thought embarrassedly as he looked up at the bright azure sky.

Unbeknownst to him, he was being silently observed by the resting female's slightly open, golden gaze.

"_The future will certainly be entertaining…"_ Blake mused, enjoying the world's reflection in Jaune's captivating deep-blue eyes.

**To Be Continued…**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Sorry, no action, just some dialogue-heavy interaction. And not the fluffy kind. I originally had a few more scenes collated into this single chapter, but it was hitting 15k+ words, and I didn't feel comfortable stuffing it all together like that. So, some chronological splitting was done. I also didn't get to refine this into the quality I'm used to giving, but a lot has been going on in real life and I just wanted to get something out there so I could advance the story somewhere else.

Anyway, this entry focused on the background and introduction of a different sort of Blake Belladonna. She's more calculative, chatty, and teasing than the canonical version, but her general reserved nature should stay in existence. Next chapter, I intend to have a small clash of Ice against Fire. The slice-of-life backdrop of Beacon Academy nears closer.

Alas, I now must join my girlfriend on the couch to watch an archaic roll of Sailor Moon episodes, something that was enjoyable at first but is now making my eyes bleed out of their orifices. I need to find a way to un-hype her about the planned reboot, and get her to watch a series like Nichijou or Fate/Zero instead. I'll even settle with Iwatobi Swim Club at this point...

As always, my friends, please drop a review on my face if possible.

Cheers!

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><p>Shout-Out to: Fatestay night and Red vs. Blue.


	6. Facing the Past to Seize a Future, P2

**Disclaimer: **The RWBY universe is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions. I do not claim ownership, or do this for any monetary gain.

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><p><strong>RWBY<strong>

**The Grimm Knight**

Facing the Past to Seize a Future

Part II

* * *

><p><em><strong>Late afternoon in Schnee Manor's West Wing Training Room…<strong>_

Weiss weaved through her opponents with grace as she dispatched each one at every turn of her right heel. The tempo of her fencing technique was flawless. She fluidly adapted her stance to avoid oncoming attacks and retaliated accordingly, if not harshly.

It was drilled into her head at a young age; Prima, Seconda, Terza, and Quarta, the four basic guards of her weapon style that allowed her to react tactically to any situation. However, she didn't need to concentrate on proper execution at the moment, not against these mindless drones that posed no challenge whatsoever.

None of them were a match for her.

"This is pathetic! I didn't even need to use my Dust to deal with you neophytes," Weiss muttered in irritation as she sheathed Myrtenaster and glared at the three grown men struggling to pick themselves off the white tile before her. Their SDC uniforms had multiple tears in the fabric from the girl's nimble slashes and their protective vests were full of indentations caused by the stabs of her slim weapon.

She wasn't one to hold back usually, so her opposition was lucky light cuts, deep bruises, and mild concussions happened to be the extent of their injuries.

"Miss Weiss, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you, but these men were the last batch of available guards. The remainders are on shift watching over the manor's grounds or still recovering in the infirmary from assisting you with your training," Gregory said amicably as he walked to her side, holding a pristine glass of water in one hand and a silken towel in the other.

"Thank you, Gregory," Weiss accepted the items gratefully, calming down as she took a sip of the cool refreshment and dabbed daintily around her neck with the provided cloth. Meanwhile, the two hesitant maids her gray-haired butler brought along ran past them to tend to the injured men.

"I'm very disappointed with our security personnel. Father hired them for our protection, yet they fall like trees from the weakest of hits. Is it wrong of me to have expected more from them?" Weiss frowned.

Gregory chuckled in his deep tone as he received both glass and towel back from the dissatisfied heiress. "To be honest, yes. These guardsmen were trained for basic combat response against common thieves and White Fang intruders. The manor's security droids, however, are better fit for countering higher level threats."

Weiss scoffed in response, glancing to the side of the room where said androids lay in a defunct heap of scrap metal. Their attack patterns were more predictable than the hired watch. "Both are a waste of valuable money."

The aged butler shook his head dismissively. "I do not wish to be rude, Miss Weiss, but that is an unfair evaluation and an insult to your father. As you know, Master Schnee is a great man of scrutiny. He carefully examines and selects those he wishes to employ. These men weren't meant to fight someone of your skillful capacity." He sighed quietly as he watched his two female subordinates exit the training room, assisting the limping guards toward the wing's infirmary nearby. Within the last few months, this was the fifth time the young Miss took out her frustrations on the poor security staff. And on every such occasion, there was one attributable constant of cause.

Jaune Arc.

Gregory whipped out a compact voice recorder he held on his person for surveillance reasons. He turned his back to the disgruntled heiress and started whispering into the receiver. "Does Mister Arc's absence really hold such sway over the emotions of my honorable Master's daughter? Her youthful affections for the boy are quite troubling if this is the result whenever he is away. I must report this to Master Schnee soon. Her reactions might be an early sign of destructive obsession…"

Weiss stared dryly at the gray-haired butler to her side as he ignorantly continued to rant into the device. His "hushed" volume wasn't very silent, especially since the baritone of his normal voice stayed prevalent. In fact, it felt like he was mocking her right now with how non-discreet he was being.

Wordlessly, she took hold of Myrtenaster, switched to her desired capsule, and swiped horizontally to send an extremely hot slash of flame to the pile of unresponsive androids she dispatched earlier.

A wave of intense heat burst through the room, accompanied by an eruption of flying metal and stray embers.

"O-Oh my! Wha—how?!" Gregory exclaimed with a shocked face, gray hair and handlebar moustache slightly tinged with soot.

The young heiress merely dropped the protective glyph she held up preemptively in anticipation of the explosion and dusted off what little dirt there was on her skirt. She then cleared her throat, sheathed her weapon, and flipped her ponytail back elegantly.

"Gregory, the air in here is a bit stifling. I'm going for a short walk outside before dinnertime. Please, do be mindful of your duties as this manor's Head Butler and take care of that random fire which sprouted in the corner over there," Weiss gestured casually at the blazing pile of melting metal as she strode toward the exit, not waiting for the frantic butler's response.

Shortly after her departure, the training room's fire sprinklers activated, thoroughly drenching the lone man. However, it didn't do much against the raging flames.

"This is—I don't even—bloody hell, it's spreading!" Gregory shouted, quickly pocketing his recorder and replacing it with a handheld transceiver. "Nina, abandon your investigation of Mister Arc's room and help me contain an inferno in the West Wing! Bring every able-bodied person you can!"

A piece of heated scrap metal flew near his head, grazing his parted hair. He winced at the feel of his heart nearly stopping.

To think, this was the result of teen drama he never expected to see from his Master's daughter. All because of an idiotic blonde boy who was oblivious to the effects he had on female kind.

The stressed butler angrily shook his fist in the air, squinted eyes fighting against the conflicting smoke and moisture that polluted the room's interior.

"Curse you, Jaune Arc! May all mirrors shatter when you look upon them and pelvic bones break for every maiden's heart you attempt to capture!"

XxX

_**Elsewhere, at the Fields of Nysa…**_

Jaune's spine shivered unexpectedly, causing him to briefly lose focus on his current situation, which involved dodging a dangerously fast blade that soared through the air in unpredictable arcs.

His minor slip in movement forced him to abandon his back-step to block instead. He brought up his heater shield just in time to deflect the swooping blade that flew towards him. It scraped on the metal surface with a shower of sparks as it continued its ascent into the air undeterred. At the peak of its circular motion, a loud shot rang out from its pistol part and reversed its direction back at him.

Dark-blue eyes widened as the sharpened edge of the weapon barely missed his face. He was about to raise his sword arm when he felt an uncomfortable tug on it.

"What the hell?"

The black ribbon attached to the sickle-like weapon's hilt was securely bound around his right forearm. His vision followed the cloth's path that led to the owner, a dark-haired girl whose amber eyes reflected the amusement on her face.

"It was an admirable effort, but you couldn't dodge me for forever, Jaune," Blake said with a taunting smirk. She tightened her hold on the sturdy ribbon wrapped around her left hand, prepared to use it as an anchor to pull herself towards her opponent for a whirlwind of attacks. However, before she could make an offensive motion, the blonde knight did something surprising.

He dropped his sword and shield, arms spread out and empty palms on display.

"Are you…surrendering?" Blake asked in confusion.

"Not quite," Jaune responded, staring at the girl with an innocent smile.

"But you—!"

Blake didn't have time to finish her statement because the blonde swordsman quickly grasped her cloth binding with his unoccupied hands and tugged harshly, forcing her to jerk forward in his direction. The strength behind the pull was great enough to make her fly across the few feet of ground between them and smack into his armored chest with significant impact.

Jaune, capitalizing on Blake's semi-dazed state, promptly tied her wrists together with the length of ribbon not attached to his appendage. And with her back facing him, he then slid his left arm under the girl's chin to trap her neck in a one-armed chokehold. If necessary, he would modify it into a rear naked stranglehold for assured victory.

Blake didn't struggle in the blonde's grip, finding it futile to waste energy on what was a simple spar between new allies. Though, that didn't mean she couldn't have some fun from her compromising position before ending it.

"This is the second time today I've had my body so hard pressed to you, Jaune. Are you perhaps using our friendly fight as a convenient veil to satisfy those animalistic urges of yours?" She turned slightly to the side to look up at the befuddled blonde with mischievous amber eyes. "It's all right, you know. I won't fight back, as long as you promise to take responsibility for—"

"Whoa, h-hold up!" Jaune hurriedly released the girl and stepped back, face lit up in a vibrant shade of red from embarrassment. "I just wanted to make sure you couldn't move. That's all, really!" he defended himself, staring hesitantly at the dark beauty as she turned to address him.

"Jaune?" Blake whispered.

"Y-yes?" he stuttered.

"You're too gullible."

"Huh?"

The dark-haired girl grinned at her blonde opponent and motioned to his legs with a tilt of her head.

Following the gesture, Jaune glanced down and saw that his ankles had somehow gotten wrapped up in the black ribbon that was previously around his forearm. "…Damn it…"

Blake quickly used her Aura-amplified strength to pull her cloth restraint back, and consequently the boy's legs out from underneath him. She then flipped onto his grounded body to press her bound hands against his neck, thumbs placed on two pressure points known to cause suffocation.

"Yield," Blake demanded from her mounted position.

Jaune sighed heavily in defeat, uncomfortable from the girl's movement as she straddled his hips for leverage. Given the incident caused by his own hands earlier, he probably deserved this outcome.

"Alright, alright. The win's yours, Kitten," he grumbled.

"Oh my, childish nicknames? Is the Grimm Knight pouting?" Blake teased, patting his cheek lightly in mocking.

"…Maybe. Now, would you mind getting off of me? This rocky bed of dirt isn't exactly the best place to lie down."

"First, undo this knot you made," she responded, holding her bound wrists out for his assistance.

Jaune met the Faunus girl's amused eyes with a dry expression. "This can't be done after I get up?"

"No," was her simple reply. The demure smile she had on didn't leave her face.

Not bothering to argue, Jaune did as requested and watched with interest as his dark-haired companion recalled the remaining length of ribbon back without any visible effort. She just twitched her fingers a certain way and the material floated up to coil around her arm like a snake. The black cloth was most likely constructed of a fabric that uniquely reacted to her Aura signature, similar to how most custom weapons used by Hunters did.

"So, I untied you…" Jaune remarked, still lying down, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes, that you did." Blake didn't move.

"Are you, I don't know, going to let me get up now?" the blonde asked in barely restrained exasperation. He swore the girl was purposely readjusting herself to make him even more distressed.

"I've entertained the idea, but I am quite comfortable where I am, so no," she responded defiantly.

This was definitely karmic payback for touching Blake's sensitive Faunus ears. It wasn't like she embarrassed him enough by forcing him to ignorantly join her in a female clothing store to replace her unmentionable that he unintentionally _messed_. He felt extremely ashamed of his actions, and apologized profusely to her to demonstrate that, saying he would do anything for her. She just waved off his concerns with that playful smile of hers and said all he had to do was pay for something she wanted, with some addendums later on if she desired.

As usual, he let his mouth take the wheel while his brain rode backseat. It should be noted that agreeing to do anything for someone, no matter the amount of guilt involved, was never smart. And as Weiss reminded him often enough, he was a successful idiot when it came to those kinds of things.

After they had left the historic lookout tower, Blake led him to the city's shopping district. She failed to mention that the item she wanted was located in the lingerie section of Aphrodite's Closet. And, as per his agreement to comply with any addendums she made, he wore her black ribbon like a leash as she dragged him around the store. He was subjected to odd stares, giggles, and gasps from females of all ages.

Remembering the event, Jaune groaned and dropped his head back exhaustively on the soft grass. "You're impossible, Blake."

The female Faunus let out a melodic chuckle. "Only when I want to be, Jaune."

Their lively banter would have continued, if not for an incessant beeping emanating from under the girl's black vest. Blake instantly dismounted the blonde knight and pulled the source of noise out from her inside pocket. It was her personal Scroll.

"This isn't good…" she whispered in a grave tone.

Jaune patted the grass off himself as he stood up and watched the dark-haired girl tap various areas of her holographic screen. From the way her focused eyes darted all over the tablet and how her slender fingers drifted over complicated looking programs with practiced ease, he knew the person before him right now was the Shadow of the North.

"The factory's security was broken into," Blake explained, continuing her technical operation. After a few more swipes of the finger, she brought up several screens of video feed. Seconds later, with thinned lips, she handed the curious blonde her Scroll.

Jaune examined the tablet's open windows, eyes steadily widening with each screen he saw. The automaton staff Alexander stationed for replacement of his employees were all destroyed. In each screen, the obvious culprits were combing the factory's work floor in black suits, seemingly in search of something. Spearheading the small group was a familiar trench-coated man with windswept hair and a mask.

"So, the bastard brought friends. But what's going on? Those aren't White Fang uniforms, and it looks like they're doing a scavenger hunt rather than planting explosives. I'm not complaining, but I thought Adam's primary objective was to blow the place to kingdom come," Jaune handed the Scroll back.

Blake collapsed the device and pocketed it with a frown. "I can't say for sure, especially given how my intel is severely off now. I stole Adam's directives straight from the White Fang's network. It discussed a solo operation to destroy the facility at nine this evening. But as you can see, Adam isn't alone, is much earlier than expected, and isn't preparing a sabotage op."

"_If I was a character in one Ruby's RPG games, luck would definitely be my worst attribute," _Jaune thought, palming his face in exasperation. He hated how often trouble reared its ugly head to mock him. He quickly went about gathering his discarded armaments from the ground.

Blake observed her blonde company quietly. As soon as he attached Crocea Mors to his hip, she set her patient gaze on his deep-blue eyes. "Thoughts?" she inquired.

Jaune casually crossed his arms and smiled reassuringly. "There's no need to change our plans. We'll still be attending the same party, the only difference is that there are a few more guests than expected and the music will be louder."

The blonde's comment brightened the dark beauty's demeanor. "Yes. It doesn't matter what they're planning, only that we arrive in time to stop them. Can I count on you to handle Adam's entourage while I confront him?"

"Ha, of course! I'm your partner, after all, right?" Jaune sent the Faunus girl a friendly grin.

"Yes, in more ways than one…" Blake said, whispering the last part with a hint of possessiveness.

Not quite catching her entire reply, the swordsman just nodded and set his sights toward Vale's city walls not far from their spot on the grassy plains.

"I think we've wasted enough time here. Let's go."

"Right."

The two aspiring Hunters tore off in a blur of black and yellow.

XxX

_**Late**_**_ afternoon_...**

"This hasn't helped, at all," Weiss groaned as she continued to walk the perimeter of her home's vast property. Currently, she was strolling through a grove of oak trees native to the area. Viridian leaves rustled from a comfortable breeze, small animals scurried around in search of food, and the setting sun's light cast beautiful colors and shadows all around her. It was rather scenic and relaxing.

However, her mood stayed soured.

"Stupid butler mislabeling my worry for obsession…" she huffed in annoyance as she stopped walking and withdrew a folded paper from her dueling belt's pocket. It was the note Jaune left on her nightstand this morning. Unfurling it, she read the contents once more.

_To my abusive yet kind mistress,_

_I regret to inform you that today's combat lesson is canceled due to some business I have to take care of for your father. I know, I know... You're probably cursing at me right now because you'll have one less class to cram into that cute head of yours. Don't worry, I'll be back later tomorrow to run you into the ground, as any good teacher should. I wanted to tell you last night, but you fell asleep during that foot massage I was giving you. _

_On a side note, Weiss, are you aware that you drool in your sleep? I took a few pictures in case you wanted to see. I might have made a few digital copies and sent it out to everyone in the mansion._

_Kidding, of course._

_I don't really know how to use a Scroll, so I enlisted some friendly help from one of the maids._

_...Please don't stab me._

_Anyway, get some rest tonight. I'd say beauty sleep, but you've got plenty of the former, and don't get enough of the latter. _

_PS - Could you keep an eye out for whoever's entering my room while I'm gone? I think someone's been stealing my boxers. I really hope it's not Nina again. She's nice and all, but she keeps washing the ones I haven't even used yet._

A feeling of calmness washed over her as she finished reading the brief letter with a lingering smirk. It wasn't hard for her to picture Jaune's slanted smile that usually accompanied his words. There was no better way to put it, but these small reminders of his presence in her life made her feel less alone, empty…and weak.

These were emotions that plagued Weiss ever since her mother's death, which happened shortly after she turned eight. It only got worse over the years as her family and friends disappeared or distanced themselves out of fear for their own lives. So, under her father's careful watch and strict ruling, she grew up in a relatively secluded environment; away from others her age and only ever socializing with her private instructors and the mansion staff. The majority of her life was predetermined by her father's planned structure of upbringing. That is except for one thing, her dream to become the most widely recognized and respected Huntress in existence.

Of course, this wasn't a desire cultivated by childish thought or whim. At first, yes, it may have been. But that was before her family fell victim to the White Fang's antagonism, and also before they killed her mother. After that incident, her juvenile dream career developed into a realistic path to gaining what she needed.

Power.

The kind of power that would undoubtedly intimidate her potential enemies and make them think twice before hurting her or those she cared for. A Hunter's prowess in the fields of combat and intelligence guaranteed the kind of fear and respect she sought to acquire.

However, despite the utmost confidence Weiss had in her own abilities, she knew this road she chose to walk was wrought with unpredictable dangers. The type that could land her in an early grave from the slightest slip or, at the very least, mentally cripple her if she failed to overcome them. These were insecurities based on the idea that she would have to continue weathering through her problems alone, as she had grown used to doing.

Thankfully, that dismal mindset changed eight months ago when a blonde boy got suddenly thrown into her life. It was an unexpected surprise that the Schnee heiress was extremely grateful for, even if she was loath to admitting it out loud. While she took pride in her fiercely independent ways, she wouldn't deny that she deeply longed for the kind of love and support that blossomed from friendships she never had; relationships that never formed because of her family's situation and her own sharp personality which very few were able to tolerate. Fortunately, Jaune didn't seem to be bothered by either and made it a point to remind her she wasn't alone in this harsh world.

Speaking of their relationship, she had yet to initiate her plans to cement it above the level of friends. Despite her sheltered upbringing, she wasn't ignorant about the opposite sex or her own feelings on the matter. Originally, she never even considered pursuing the subject of romance because it would just get in the way of her goals. But then she received a rare package in the form of a quirky knight whose compassionate character highlighted his worth in her eyes.

Also, it helped that Jaune was more than capable of combating the dangers associated with her turbulent life.

There was no denying the overwhelming power that lay hidden behind his unassuming looks and personality. She had witnessed it on several occasions, when they traveled to desolate locations within Vytal for her training. Anytime she found herself outnumbered or surprised by her Grimm opponents, the blonde knight wasn't far behind with his sword and shield, prepared to eradicate any and all opposition that may threaten her life.

Jaune's brutality on the field of battle both astounded and frightened the young ice maiden. After seeing him fight the Grimm, she knew how much he held back during their sparring matches, and she didn't mind it in the least. Honestly, he was more of a monster than the enemies they were training to destroy. The blonde knight was an efficient killer. There was no wasted energy in his actions; every movement had a purpose, and each attack a consequence. The reason why her father hired him to be her trainer and protector was never more evident than when she first saw him slaughter the savage spawns.

Weiss didn't need to convince herself. She would do everything within her power to drag the young knight with her through Beacon and further. Obviously, given their already natural chemistry and teamwork, they would rise through the ranks of Hunter prestige flawlessly. Then, when they reached the pinnacle of glory, the two of them would retreat to a nice mansion somewhere in Atlas' cultured area and start raising a family of little white-haired children with dark-blue eyes and…

"Ugh, I'm getting ahead of myself again." Weiss smacked her reddening cheeks and took a deep breath. Daydreaming only led to wasted time.

She stepped off the tree she was leaning on and glanced at the darkening sky above the foliage canopy. The glow of the setting sun was dying down and soon the blanket of night would take its rightful place.

"I should get back before father sends those useless guardsmen to find me," Weiss muttered as she strode out of the oaken area and back on the dirt road leading to her home. "Jaune better get back before I run out of employees to vent on. I should probably make him repay me with another massage." Recalling the feel of the blonde's experienced hands on her feet caused her to flush red once more. "I wonder how he got so good at it…"

Her thoughts concerning the knight's unusual skill set continued to wander as she walked toward her property's east gate. Hopefully the appointed guard wouldn't try to strike small talk with her and instead let her simply pass. She was hungry, tired from all the energy she expended earlier and still frustrated by her butler's arrogance. This was definitely not a good combination of emotions for casual conversation.

Reaching the top of an uphill part of the path, Weiss was granted a clear view of the eastern gate on the horizon. She smiled in satisfaction, glad that her sense of direction was right for once. However, her ice-blue eyes narrowed as she spied two feminine figures standing in front of it with…weapons?! The short-haired one had what looked to be a huge farmer's scythe while the other was fiddling with a pair of gauntlets.

Whoever these girls were, it didn't look like they planned to visit her property for polite business.

"Why is that blonde pulling her arm back so far? Is she—no, she wouldn't dare!"

_BAM!_

The blonde-haired girl punched through the ornate frost crest in the center of the gate with visible power, blasting both sides off their iron latches.

"That crest was my mother's design!" Weiss exclaimed angrily as she swiped her right hand in a perfect circle and summoned a light-blue glyph in the air. She hopped onto it and withdrew Myrtenaster, prepared to intercept the unknown intruders.

"Of all the times for you to be gone. Damn you, Jaune Arc!" Weiss muttered. The glyph pulsed with energy as it expanded and shot the white-haired girl high into the air.

XxX

"Was that necessary, sis? We could have hopped over, y'know," Ruby commented.

Yang scoffed derisively in response. "Where's the fun in that? Like I said last night, we're charging straight in. Plus, aren't you the tiniest bit annoyed with how long it took us to find this stupid place? If it wasn't for those damned woods surrounding this area, we would have been here HOURS ago."

The dark-redhead sighed. She was tired of being the voice of reason. It was a job that her brother usually took when he was around back then. And since they were coming to get him, she guessed it was all right to finally let loose of that position.

"Fine, let's go wild!" Ruby raised her gleaming scythe in the air enthusiastically.

"That's the way! Banzai!" Yang shouted out, pumping her gauntleted fist up in equal excitement. "Now, let's retrieve our stupid runaway brother, shall we?"

The sisters nodded to each other happily in agreement and started to move forward. That is, until a hail of jagged ice started pouring on their location.

"Whoa!" Ruby exclaimed as she started twirling Crescent Rose rapidly in one hand to create a blender-like shield of protection above her.

"Stupid, pointy ice!" Yang had a bit more difficultly dodging the solid precipitation, moving haphazardly left and right to avoid being pierced by the sharp icicles.

Fortunately for them, this only lasted for five seconds. When it finally died down, the two girls stared in awe at the strangely beautiful sight of numerous ice shards littering the ground around them.

"So…that was weird. I don't think the news said there'd be hail today. There isn't even a single cloud in the sky," Ruby pointed out as she looked at her similarly bewildered sister.

"Beautiful weather, isn't it? Too bad none of it hit you trespassing dolts on the head," a snide feminine voice spoke from behind them.

Both girls whirled around to see a white-haired girl wielding a uniquely designed rapier.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked cautiously as she held Crescent Rose at the ready.

The white-haired teen let out a condescending chuckle, flipping her ponytail back in the process. "Do you really think you're in the position to ask questions? If anything, the only one you're allowed to ask concerns the cost of that gate your dumb blonde friend ruined."

The aforementioned blonde cracked her knuckles threateningly and ejected a salvo of used shells from her gauntlets.

"Sis, meet Weiss Schnee, daughter of the egotistical bastard extorting our brother," Yang said with anger-filled eyes and clenched fists.

Weiss glared at the golden-blonde with ice-cold eyes that held a hint of curiosity. "My father does have a tendency to attract and manipulate people of the unsavory variety," she remarked. She wasn't completely ignorant of her father's involvement with the darker side of business and politics. It was hard not to notice with the shady figures that he often met with in his office. "So, which dunce under his employ are you delinquents related to?"

"Jaune isn't unsavory or a dunce! Take that back, right now!" Ruby shouted, displaying a ferocity that betrayed her innocent looks.

"W-wait, who did you just say?" Weiss stuttered out.

Yang smirked at the white-haired girl's loss of composure. "She said Jaune, as in Jaune Arc. You see, our misguided brother ran away from home a few years ago because of a little misunderstanding we had, and we've been trying to bring him back ever since. Fortunately, rumor has it he's been staying at this stuffy mansion to babysit some stuck up heiress. Know anything about that?" she asked with a confident grin.

Weiss' shock quickly gave way to serious dislike as she observed the two girls before her. Jaune rarely talked about his past, only once or twice did he mention something about having sisters. She discovered that family was a sore subject for him. While she wanted to learn more about her friend, she wasn't willing to damage her growing relationship with him to do so. Plus, it was uncomfortable for her to see the cordial knight become so depressed at the mere mention of the topic. She much preferred the warmth of his happiness to the cold of his sadness.

And she wasn't about to give up the one person in her life who was capable of appreciating and understanding her as an individual. The least she could do to repay his kindness was protect him from the past that seemed to haunt him.

Gripping the hilt of Myrtenaster tighter, she adopted a familiar, loose stance. Right foot back for offensive movement, left foot forward for evasive maneuvers, and sword held in a basic guard while her left prepared to manifest her Semblance glyphs.

"Unfortunately, Jaune is away running errands at the moment. But I will notify him that you came by 'knocking' on my gates to see him. Now, leave this property at once. Your faces are on camera, along with your transgressions. The bills for damaging my property will show up in your mailbox by next week. Be thankful I won't be doing any more than that."

"Thankful? You won't even listen to our side of things!" Ruby snapped, whipping out her Crescent Rose and slamming its bladed point into the earth with audible force.

Weiss raised a well-manicured eyebrow. "Need I? Your barbaric actions so far are display enough of why Jaune probably left your dysfunctional family to wander the wilds to fight Grimm. You should be thanking my father for hiring him, instead of unreasonably attacking. Anyway, the past is history, and what matters is that your brother is where he belongs, by my side."

"What, chained to this place as a slave for the Schnee family's amusement like some dog? I don't think so," Yang said heatedly. She punched her fists together, expelling a small burst of fire. Her lilac eyes showed hints of flaming sparks as well.

"Jaune is not here against his will," Weiss frowned.

"That's what you think," Yang let a smirk grace her face. "Figures Daddy wouldn't tell his little girl how he got his hands on her newest toy. What you need to understand, Weiss Schnee, is that we aren't leaving until we see Jaune." Her taunting grin grew wider, seeing the other girl's annoyed reaction. She turned her head to the side to look at her sister. "Ruby, do me a favor?"

"What's up?" Ruby asked, prepared to fight the heiress as well.

"Let me handle this snob. Watch my back and take care of anyone who tries to interrupt us, will ya?" the blonde girl requested, a dangerous glint in her eye.

"Don't beat her up too much, Yang," Ruby said with a hesitant nod and hopped a good distance away, next to the gate to act as a watch.

"Hm? So you crude girls do bear a shred of civility and honor," Weiss remarked, watching the sisters separate from each other. "Though, it would have been wiser to fight me two-on-one. Your chances of winning against me alone are very slim."

"Wow. Modest, aren't you?" Yang bit back, both fists chambered at the hip in a weighted stance.

"Of course, it's one of my many shining qualities that Jaune says attracts him. Well, that and my feet. Did you know your brother has a foot fetish?" Weiss joked.

The heiress' comment caught the golden-haired brawler off guard.

"…Have you been flirting with my little brother?" Yang asked, bangs shadowing her eyes from view, quivering fists hanging at her sides.

Weiss smiled, happy that she touched the "protective sister" nerve. "That's my business. But I will tell you this, Jaune is quite endearing despite all his foolishness. Even my maids are enraptured with him. Don't worry, I've been taking very good care of him."

"…stay…mine…" Yang mumbled.

"Sorry, what was that?" Weiss quirked her brow at the muted dialogue coming from the girl across from her.

"I said…" Yang quickly threw her arms out and pumped Ember Celica's shells into activation. "…stay away from Jaune, he's MINE!" She burst forward with impressive speed and unloaded a series of jabs and leg kicks at the surprised heiress.

Weiss grit her teeth as she tried to block and dodge the fiery blonde's barrage of melee. There wasn't enough space to properly counterattack, and her blade vibrated intensely with every hit it took. The brawler broke past her comfortable guard range with that initial thrust of velocity. Though, that didn't mean she was unprepared. Her left hand was busy tracing elaborate patterns in the air behind her as she was forced to back-step continuously.

Not taking notice of this, Yang's unrelenting assault continued. Her angry frown turned into an overzealous grin the more she saw the white-haired girl's defense weaken. That's when she saw her awkwardly turn on her right heel, exposing a huge opening on the left.

"_This is it!"_ Yang threw all her power into an uppercut that threatened explosive damage upon impact.

However, an intricate white symbol blocked her attack midway through, shattering into a cloud of Dust when she hit it.

"What the hell—whoa!" Yang didn't have time to contemplate the unexpected resistance because a sharp, skinny blade nearly cut at her torso in a flurry of slashes and stabs. The edge of its point scratched her exposed midriff while she flipped backwards away from danger. If it wasn't for her protective Aura, blood would have been drawn.

"Hmph! You're more agile than you look," Weiss frowned as she went back into a guarded position and eyed the blonde who was busy inspecting her hair. "What are you doing? I aimed for your stomach, not your hair."

"Any idiot knows how Aura works, princess," Yang snapped. Satisfied that none of her golden mane was damaged, she tossed her lengthy hair back. "It protects the body, not the hair. And I'd like to keep mine looking beautiful not only for myself, but for Jaune, too."

Weiss' eye twitched at this peculiar statement. "First you say he's 'yours' like a possessive banshee, and now you're admitting to preening yourself for him? I'm sorry, but if what you've been saying is true, isn't he your brother?"

It was Yang's turn to give the white-haired girl an inquisitive look. "Yes, what's your point?"

"Jaune. Is. Your. Brother," Weiss accentuated each word for clarification.

The blonde brawler put her hands on her shapely hips and scoffed. "Yeah, I get that, but we aren't blood-related. Some stupid law-given label isn't going to stop me from loving him the way I want to," she said without hesitation or shame.

Ice-blue eyes narrowed at the self-proclaimed sister who was not only violent, but didn't mind dabbing in taboos of incest with an adoptive sibling. "For Jaune's sake, I will do everything I can to make sure he doesn't come in contact with you. Ever."

Yang readied herself for combat, back hunched over to burst forward and fists held close to the body for quick strikes. "It doesn't matter who it is; you, your father, or even the whole damn world. No one is going to stop me from being with Jaune."

"I'll make you think otherwise!" Weiss shouted out in reply as she stabbed the ground with Myrtenaster. A severely cold updraft of wind flew over the earth and glazed the area in a fine sheen of ice. Various sizes of jagged ice columns sprouted from the icy sheet, as well.

"Damn it," Yang cursed, almost slipping because of the nearly instantaneous change of firm terrain to solid smooth surface. "You don't know who you're dealing with, Schnee!" she exclaimed as she punched her fists together and created a fiery manifestation of Aura around herself, melting the cold structures and ground surrounding her. She looked intimidating with her blazing-red eyes and golden hair swaying like an untamed wildfire.

Weiss glared at her opponent and swayed her left hand in several directions to summon an array of medium-sized glyphs midair, some even appeared behind the angered blonde. "The arena is set because you didn't take the initiative. If there's one thing I've learned these past few months, it's that you must always create your own home field advantage. Prepare yourself to face mine."

Yang grinned savagely in response as she tightened her southpaw stance. She was done exchanging barbed words, and all too ready to play home wrecker to this princess' fantasy relationship with her brother.

Ruby watched with anticipation from a distance as her sister and the Schnee heiress stared at each other with great intensity. Due to her farther location past the gate, she wasn't able to hear the words exchanged between the two, but knew it was enough to make Yang activate her Semblance without having suffered significant injury. That wasn't a good sign, at least not for the white-haired girl who nearly made their location a winter wonderland in the middle of summer. She sort of felt bad for what was most likely going to be the girl's first experience of what being hit by a train felt like.

"That idiot will owe me more than a few foot massages after this," Weiss muttered angrily. Like an explanation.

Without wasting any more time, she propelled herself forward using a speed glyph that she materialized under her high-heeled boots and led a spear-like charge with a flying lunge. The heiress' sharp eyes observed the golden-blonde match her speed to meet in the middle of their battlegrounds for what would be the conclusion of this brief clash.

"That's ENOUGH!"

A deafening gunshot penetrated the tense air and a surprise lightning bolt struck the frosted ground between the two females before they could trade blows, creating a sparkling mist of electrical static and ice Dust particles at the point of impact.

Both girls abandoned their heated confrontation to stare at the source of their interruption. The heiress with ice-blue eyes narrowed in annoyance and suspicion, and the devoted sister whose blood-red irises were boiling with more rage than ever before.

"Alexander Schnee…" Yang muttered between clenched teeth.

**To Be Continued…**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Ugh…it's definitely been awhile. I won't exacerbate the word count by explaining why.

Anyway, this chapter is actually pretty damn rough and hasn't been edited thoroughly. Hope you enjoyed what I have here, and I do apologize for any writing style lost. I definitely need to practice again, and can only hope not too much quality has escaped as I venture back into this world of fanfic writing. I really just wanted to get something out here due to my long absence. However, do keep in mind, as with all writers on here; I write at my own pace with what little time I do have, and do so for personal enjoyment. Though, I do factor in your appreciation for what I display, as well.

Also, thank you to EVERYONE who favorited, followed, and/or reviewed. It's extremely gratifying to receive both textual and statistical responses like that. I actually put in quite a bit of thought and work when it comes to connecting scenarios, making adequate dialogue, and trying to flesh out character personalities through their interactions. I'm sincerely grateful to those who have showed support in one way or another. I really want to answer the questions in the reviews, but I fear I might spoil my own story by doing so. Therefore, if I haven't responded to your inquiries at all, don't be insulted. It's only because I do have something planned for whatever the subject may be.

As always, please read and review (maybe I'll finally hit that 100 review mark!), as it does lend to my shallow motivation.

Cheers!

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><p>Shout-Out to: Victoria's Secret<p> 


	7. Facing the Past to Seize a Future, P3

**Disclaimer: **The RWBY universe is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions. I do not claim ownership, or do this for any monetary gain.

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><p><strong>RWBY<strong>

**The Grimm Knight**

Facing the Past to Seize a Future

Part III

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><p><em><strong>Four days ago at <strong>__**Schatz**__** Kiste in Vale's Commercial District…**_

"I…I'm going to kiss this person. I'll hug them till their eyes pop out! Even if it's a girl, I'll do it all! Because Yang Xiao Long finally hit pay dirt, baby!" the buxom blonde shouted ecstatically, jumping out of her café chair to fist pump the air. This awarded her a number of odd stares and murmurs of discontent about her outside volume.

She could care less.

After so many strikeouts during the last month of rumor gathering, she'd finally received a competent information broker capable of covering their end of the bargain. With a face full of elation, she sat down quickly and did a once over of all the acquired files that poured into her Scroll ten minutes before, right when she was about to leave.

"Perfect," she whispered happily, lilac eyes drinking in the holographic screen's content. The data was still there, and very real. Everything she needed concerning Jaune's whereabouts; his SDC "employment" documents, surveillance videos, and even floor plans for the place he was shackled to.

"All right, formalities. Time to send the payment, say thank you, and get a receipt," Yang reminded herself as she closed all the windows on her screen and opened the Scroll's messaging system.

**From: PunMasterBlawnDee**

**To: WhereShad0wsLie**

**Subject: IheartU!**

**i finished looking thru what you sent me! Its everything i wanted and mre! How much do I ow you? You said fre b4 but I dont want to owe favors. tell me ur price**

_**Sent 13:12:01**_

Yang finished her hastily made message and sent it out. Waiting for a response, she grabbed the strawberry smoothie she ordered earlier and took a huge sip from the umbrella straw dipped in its generous depth. Soon after, her Scroll made a familiar beep. The holographic screen lit up with the conversation's new reply.

**Too bad. It's free. Next time isn't.**

**The Grimm Knight needs allies, especially family.**

**I owe him.**

**PS – I highly suggest you improve your spelling and grammar for future deals such as ours. Proofread. And again, change your username. It's juvenile. So was your last one. This is likely why you didn't have luck with the other brokers. **

**The information underworld does have standards.**

**No offense.**

_**Received 13:13:45**_

The blonde girl giggled at her source's blunt words. This wasn't the first time she was corrected or reprimanded in such a way by The Shadow of the North. In fact, this was the ninth Scroll chat they shared during the whole process. Grinning in amusement, her fingers glided around as she created an appropriate response.

**i apollogyse fur my infearior wroting skills. Pls teech me how to get gudder. i pay in hugz**

**In all seriousness, Shadow, thanks. This means the world to my sister and I. We've been trying to find my brother for a long time. Now we might have a chance because of your help. Never thought there were good people like you out there in that dingy business you live off of. Just in case, though, I'm archiving this message so you don't try to sue me later for not paying you, tee-hee! **

**Ugh. You made me waste valuable brain power trying to write all this "correctly." Also, at least my usernames are creative. Yours have been gothic band names and old-timey composer people the whole time. Yeah, S4nityAss4ssin… I'm not letting you get away with that. **

**All the offense.**

_**Sent 13:17:23**_

Yang collapsed the conversation box and started wondering which of the many video folders she should explore first. Moving pictures were much more interesting than pages of boring documents. However, before she could tap on one to browse, her minimized tab started flashing.

"Whoa, that was quick! Shadow probably didn't have much to say…"

**Stop that. Reading this gave me a headache. And I don't like "hugz."**

**Anyway, no problem. You seem like a good person, too, for going so far to find him. As for suing you, no, I hate that kind of drama. With how I work, your money would be gone without you noticing it. **

**As for the rest of your message…**

**Whining is unbecoming. My names are meaningful, yours are idyllic train wrecks. What's it like to not have taste?**

**PS - When begin your mining of the files I provided, please take particular note of Surveillance/Subject004/Weiss. The contents will amuse you, I'm sure.**

**Do not try to contact me again. I will be deleting this artificial existence. Good luck with your pursuance of Jaune Arc.**

_**Received 13:19:01**_

"Figures, runs away and always has to have the last word," Yang said in amusement, closing the message system. "Now, where's that folder Shadow was talkin' about…there you are!" Right when she pressed the screen, it shifted to a familiar picture of a man's smiling face with the words "Accept" and "Reject" underneath it. The spot her finger touched triggered the "Accept" option.

"Shit, shit, shit!" she muttered.

It was too late.

"_Hello, Yang…" _greeted the serious voice of her father, Taiyang Xiao Long.

"H-hi, Dad! What's going on? Kind of weird to be calling me at this time, isn't it?" Yang asked with wide-eyes. She was thankful that the call was audio-only. If he saw her now, she'd immediately be busted.

_"Hm... What's weird is that I haven't seen you on Signal's campus. And neither has Ruby, or Uncle Qrow. Both people that would have seen you in class after lunch. Ruby's in the same Grimm Tactics class as you, which Qrow substituted for today. Somehow they missed you, in a class of only fifteen students. Hah! That's pretty weird, right?" _Taiyang said in obvious skepticism.

The golden-blonde laughed nervously, fingers fumbling around with her drink's straw. "Well, you see, I decided to go home early because I wasn't feeling well. Cramps and…y'know, that girl stuff you don't like talking about."

If there was anything capable of driving her father away, it was THAT subject!

"_Nice try, kid. Mom's home at the moment taking care of Zwei since he's having stomach trouble from eating nearly two months' supply of dog food. All because someone forgot to put away the can opener..." _Taiyang sounded guilty for a moment, but quickly returned to normal._ "She said you weren't home, either. So that leaves me to wonder…where in Remnant is my beautiful daughter getting into trouble this time?"_

"The Library," she quickly responded.

"…_the Library?" _he repeated.

"I didn't do the homework for my last period class! I thought I could hide in here, finish it fast, and then turn it in on time before the end-bell rings!"

"_Well, it definitely sounds lively in there. And from the conversation in the background, it seems like a great place to have Earl Grey tea with Juniper Berry Pie!"_

Yang turned around in her seat to glare at the loud couple behind her with flaming eyes. They shuddered in fear and halted their conversation about the café's popular menu selection.

"_Seriously, Little-Dragon, where are you and what are you doing?" _her father asked in a tone that warranted no excuses. Knowing better, she decided to give in.

"…I'm in Vale, getting more information about Jaune."

"…" A few seconds of silence went by before her father finally spoke in a somber voice. _"We've been over this before, Yang. Jaune chose to leave, and he'll come back when he's ready. You know as well as I do that he's a smart boy who's equally strong and capable of handling himself. If you try to drag him back while he's unwilling—"_

"Shut up," Yang ground out. She was clenching her right fist so hard that the sound of the glove's fabric straining was audible.

"_Yang, don't—"_

"I never forgot. Two days. That's how long you and Mom tried to find him. Two days for your thirteen year old son. For Jaune, who tried his damn best in Signal to impress you, but always got overshadowed by Ruby's skill with weapons or my top rankings in the monthly Academy competitions. Your son who continually sacrificed his own time to carry out the duties your daughters expected to see their parents doing, but didn't because you were both too busy with your careers as Hunters. He took care of me and Ruby." The blonde girl struggled to maintain her composure in the middle of the café area.

"If we were hungry, he would be right there in the kitchen already preparing something. Having trouble with homework? He always stayed one step ahead in the subjects we sucked at so he could lend a hand. Injuries during practice outside? Jaune would patch us up the best he could, and then made it his mission to learn how he could use his Aura to heal us. And best of all, he always made himself available if we needed an ear to talk to or a shoulder to lean on." She knew a bit of her own Semblance was showing, given the wary glances she was receiving from various onlookers. But she continued, nonetheless.

"Whenever you two came home to see your daughters' smiling faces, the reason we were still happy was because Jaune made sure we didn't have a chance to feel lonely or neglected. So, how do you expect me to abandon my search for him given all that he's done for us? How do you expect me to tolerate how you two abandoned him?" Yang finished, fighting the urge to punch something.

"..._We didn't abandon him, Yang. Jaune asked for this."_

Yang was about to yell at her father for his vague answer when it clicked. "That letter you received the day you and Mom decided to stop searching. It was from him, wasn't it?"

It made sense, and she hated how stupid she felt for not considering it before. Jaune had always been a bit of a technophobe because of their father. He preferred books to Scrolls, paper notes to text messaging, classic weapons to new-gen weaponry and so on. It was one of those traits the blonde knight imitated from the man he admired. If anyone was bound to send a message through archaic means, it was Jaune.

_"You saw that, huh? No point in covering it up, not after this long... Jaune asked your mother and I to not chase after him, and to make sure you girls did the same. There's more to it than that, but it's not my story to tell. It's his. The circumstances behind Jaune's adoption are...unique, like his heritage. Because of what I took away from him—no, because of how he took care of you girls, I ask you to respect his wishes, however painful it may be for you. Trust me, he is fine and will be fine when he decides to finally return,_" Taiyang finished his admittance.

Several seconds of contemplative silence happened before Yang decided to finally speak up.

"Tell me one thing."

Taiying sighed heavily on the other side of the line. _"What is it?"_

"Did you ever give up trying to find _her_?" Yang asked. "When she left the both of us, did you call it quits after two days of searching? A week? A year? And if she told you to not look for her, would you have listened?"

"..._I still haven't given up. And neither has your Uncle Qrow or step-mother. Even if I was told to stop, I still wouldn't. Because nothing and no-one should separate you from those you share your love with, not even if it's themselves." _For the first time in the whole call, her father's voice held the steel confidence she was used to hearing.

"You say the most corniest but honest things. I guess that's another trait Jaune got from you," Yang let out a small chuckle at her father's self-defeating words.

_"It's not something I'm proud of," _Taiyang sighed for a second time.

"You know how Uncle Qrow's always spouting out cryptic lines and recycled quotes? Well, I remember a certain one that perfectly applies to this conversation."

_"From Qrow? Ha, enlighten me."_

"Don't let the past steal your present," she declared sagely.

_"That's actually pretty short and sweet. But what does it mean to you, Yang?" _

"Look...I don't know what happened between you and Jaune, what led to his being adopted, or any of that stuff from back then. None of it matters to me. All I care about is living in the moment with the people I love. And right now, I'm missing someone that is a major part of that picture because he thinks it's a good idea to tackle his problems alone. I'm going to find Jaune, knock some painful sense into that dense noggin of his, and drag him back to Patch so things can go back to normal," Yang stated with finality.

_"There's no convincing you to stop, is there? Especially not after we've had this talk where I kind of slaughtered my own argument to not chase him."_

"Pretty much. Not even you can stop me. Jaune is stuck on my road of life whether he likes it or not. He may have swerved off for a bit, but I just have to steer him back where he needs to be."

Taiyang let out a boisterous laugh on his end. _"Now who's the corny one, huh?"_

Yang frowned at her father's comment. "I thought it sounded cool," she pouted.

_"Yes, it was the...what was word? Oh yeah! It was pretty hype."_

"...Please don't ever say that again, Dad," her voice pleaded.

_"Fine, fine. Anyway, I won't stop you from trying to find Jaune. Just promise me one thing, Little-Dragon?"_

"What is it?"

_"Don't let this search ruin your life, your dream to become a Huntress. It's easy to lose track of what's in front of you in a situation like this. I went through a similar phase when your biological mother left, but Summer was there to guide me back to reality. While it doesn't make up for our lack of parenting in the past, just know Summer and I are here for you now. You've convinced me to not get tethered in by my past again. _I'll see if I can do something to find him, maybe contact some friends in high places._ If you need any more help, let me know, okay? " _Taiyang asked sincerely.

"I will." Yang found it hard to fight the warm smile on her face.

_"Good. That's all I wanted to hear. Don't be late coming home tonight, and...oh, wait! I did have one more question. Yang, do you know how long the road of life is?" _Taiyang sounded like he was panting in anticipation on the other end.

Yang already knew what he was about to say. She leveled her finger over the screen's "End" prompt in preparation. "Dad, we just had a deep conversation. Don't even—"

_"It's about XIAO LON—!"_

**You have terminated this call session.**

The blonde girl shook her head in disappointment and set her Scroll on the table. "I can't believe I'm related to him."

Glancing at her strawberry smoothie, she saw that it had melted and was beginning to show its separate layers. Too bad, it was a pretty good smoothie. She needed something stronger anyway, like a Strawberry Sunrise. Maybe one of the bars she ransacked would give her a discount if she graced them with her presence again.

First, however, she needed to make a call. Picking up her Scroll, she browsed through the contacts and tapped on the picture of her little sister's sleepy, drooling face. Grimm Tactics should be done by now...

_"Yang?"_

"Yo, Rubes!"

"_Sis, where are you?! Dad's been going crazy looking for you here at school!"_

The blonde chuckled, imagining all the poor instructors and students he probably shook down. "I'm doing some independent studying over here in Vale. Wanna join your big sis after school to plan a super-secret mission for this weekend?"

"_Huh? I don't really want to get in trouble, but…adventures are so fun! I'm in! What are we doing?"_

Yang let out a nonchalant yawn. "Oh, not much. Just getting our stupid brother back."

XxX

_**Present time, late afternoon at Schnee Manor's East property gate...**_

Yang was burning.

She felt it. Her blood was coursing with fire. And not the kind born of hot passion, it was definitely fueled by hatred. Accumulated hate for the snobbish girl using Jaune as personal entertainment and hate for the corrupt man that had somehow gained the upper hand in this situation.

"Sorry, sis," Ruby said in embarrassment with empty palms in the air. A dozen glowing red dots decorated her torso and head. "I didn't think there'd be snipers hiding in the tree lines! They shot Crescent Rose out of my hands right when you were about to finish your fight and, well…you see who has it now."

There, standing behind the weaponless scythe-user, was the focal point of Yang's animosity.

"How utterly pointless this all is. Did you children truly expect to rush onto my estate without significant adversity?" Alexander ridiculed the two girls as he lowered his right hand which held the first armament of his signature weapon set, Sanglant Coup. The second armament in his left hand was of similar design. A golden pair of pepperbox Dust-revolvers that incorporated fold-over knuckle dusters for the grips.

Under his left foot lay Crescent Rose in its rifle mode.

Yang chose to ignore the man's derisive commentary and instead directed her attention to Ruby. "Phoenix Loop?" she mouthed silently to her sister. The silver-eyed girl gave a small nod in cautionary response.

At the same time, Weiss, who had been patiently watching the scene unfold behind the elder sister, sent her father a calculating look to see if he was aware of her machinations that started right as he appeared. She received short smirk of approval from him, causing her to grin assuredly. A medium-sized gray glyph was rotating under the blonde girl's boots for the purpose of immobilizing her. Thankfully, it was nearly invisible because of the fog emanating from the dissipating ice Dust.

Alexander was conscious of the entire situation. It was completely troublesome and inopportune, to say the least. Of all the times for the blonde knight to be absent, it just had to be today. He wondered how the boy's sisters were able to track down this location, and consequently who it was he had to permanently quiet so there would be no repeat occurrence. But those were thoughts better meant for later consideration. For now, he needed to ease this confrontation and take control of it the way he knew best, through half-truths and manipulative means.

"It's curious. I would have thought Taiyang's children a bit more tactile and less foolhardy to attack someone's property like this," the Schnee president chided.

Ruby turned her head slightly so she could curiously look at the silver-haired man behind her. "You know our dad?"

"Ruby! Don't pay attention to this jerk. Remember who he is? Half his company's success comes from the lies he throws around. Dad's a famous Hunter, it's not like this guy actually knows him," Yang said, urging her sister to refocus on their plan.

Alexander shook his head at the blonde's words. "On the contrary, Miss Xiao Long, I know him well from our days as friendly rivals in separate academies. We owe each other a number of favors. Two years ago, he asked of me a particularly difficult one I hesitated in agreeing to do for him, but no longer regret. However, before we get into any specifics…" His wizened eyes closed as he snapped his fingers loudly.

The aimed laser reticles on the puzzled redhead disappeared.

"Miss Rose, you are no longer being targeted. Now, if you would kindly, turn to me," he ordered in a calm tone.

Ruby, despite feeling dubious, followed the man's directions. What she didn't expect was for Crescent Rose to be thrown carelessly into her open arms.

"What is he thinking?!" Weiss muttered to herself, watching the one-sided exchange with furrowed brows.

Yang kept a watchful, heated glare on the untrustworthy SDC president. Her feet were ready to carry her swiftly forward, and fists craving for a chance to punch the man into oblivion.

"Um…thank you?" Ruby simply said, caught off-guard from the return of her sweetheart. She swept her weapon sideways into its combat mode.

Alexander made no move to stop her. Instead, he nodded tersely to the young girl looking at him suspiciously and then regarded the two sisters with a stern expression. "As I see it, you girls have two options available after having assaulted not only my daughter, but official Schnee property as well. Option one, stop all form of hostilities and follow me to Schnee Manor so that you may explain yourselves in the privacy of my office. Or two…" He snapped his fingers once again, triggering an explosive noise that came from the nearby forest. The same location where the sniper fire and aimed beams originated from.

Two white armored androids with light-blue highlights landed on either side of Alexander, cratering the earthen ground they impacted. Standing upright at seven feet tall, they were an intimidating sight given their wrist-mounted blades vibrating with intensity and the large Dust rifles attached to their back. "Proto AK-240" was printed on their chest paneling.

"That's why I felt like someone was watching me throughout the entire day…" Weiss said aloud, noting how she was previously strolling in the area the two androids popped out of. "You had these tin cans follow me. But they aren't exactly subtle-looking or quiet. How come I didn't see them?" she asked more to herself than to her father.

"Recon-prototype Atlesian Knights. They are capable of brief audio and visual camouflage using wind element Dust gems. James Ironwood gifted four of them to SDC for aiding Atlas' military with their newest AK series," Alexander explained, not minding his daughter's interruption.

Ruby gawked at the two metal sentinels with starry eyes. "Whoa! So, they're pretty much robot ninja minions! Ninjas alone are awesome, but robotic ones?! They have so many options to hide their weapons, and no fleshy stuff to worry about getting in the way. But I bet they aren't as flexible as the real thing, right? Or smart. Wait, did Atlas create a ninja AI? How does that even exi—"

"RUBY!" Yang shouted in exasperation, eyes blazing red from her active Semblance. The shout was loud enough to cause both Schnee members and the idle androids to flinch.

"What?" The thirteen-year old ninja fanatic looked at her sister in surprise.

Yang palmed her face and gestured to the Schnee heiress and president with her thumb. "Remember these two? Yeah, they're the enemy. Admire their toys later."

Ruby's eyes widened in embarrassment. "R-right!" Feeling like she needed to recover her mature image a bit, she took charge. "You, Mr. Schnee! Finish your delivery of villainous dialogue so my sister and I can decide whether to bring divine, blinding justice upon your balding head or not!" She pointed at the silver-haired man whose eyebrow was twitching from the mention of his thinning hair.

"_Who is this girl?"_ Weiss thought, emulating her father's expression perfectly.

Alexander sighed as he readjusted his red tie and then cleared his throat. "As I was saying, the second option available is you may resist, which will then prompt my robotic company to detain you two girls so I may contact your father to come receive you. If Taiyang hasn't changed drastically in the time since I last saw him, I imagine his eccentric personality will think up a punishment that will be a deal much more painful and impactful than anything I can administer." He noticed how the younger sibling paled at idea. The older one, however…

"Really?" Yang asked haughtily, laying a hand on her hip. "What makes you think our dad won't beat you into submission once I tell him you've been blackmailing his son for cheap labor, huh? I have a good source of information that says you threatened to hurt my family if Jaune didn't follow your demands. And I also have video to prove it. In fact, you're standing right next to the gate cameras it came from." She smirked triumphantly.

Weiss' ears perked at hearing the blonde's accusatory statement for a second time. At first, she felt confident in denying its validity, but seeing her father's demeanor tighten at its mention was a distinct tell about his discomfort.

Alexander kept his steel gaze on the blonde female that insisted on being a headache. Internally, numerous alarms were going off in his head. Mainly concerning how the teen was able to procure such sensitive material like that from his archives. Knowing the type of investigative digging the girl had been doing to find her wayward brother; the source was most likely a prominent information broker...

Schooling his features once more, he decided it would be pointless to wholly deny her accusation if she did in fact have that particular piece of footage he was reminded of. Hearing her describe the hidden utilities used to record it made him more receptive to this unfortunate circumstance.

"I did what I had to," Alexander affirmed stoically. He didn't miss the loathing glare his daughter threw him. With unwavering conviction, he continued, "Taiyang may not agree with the methods I chose, but I am carrying out his request successfully all the same. As a longtime friend, I do not expect him to misunderstand the actions I took to accomplish both his and my goals. But that is all I will say. If you wish me to explain myself further, and truly want to see your brother again, you will wisely choose the first option I outlaid."

Ruby looked between her seething sister and the aloof man apprehensively. "Yang, maybe we should listen to him. If Jaune's not here, what's the point of doing this? All of it will just come back to bite us. We didn't think this through, and if he's offering to let us—"

"Screw that, we're not backing down now! Can't you see he's setting us up?" Yang interrupted her sister harshly. Her blonde hair reignited in a brilliant yellow hue, ends licking out like true flame. She set her pointed gaze on the calm man. "Listen, Alexander, your acting sucks and your lies are just as bad. Here's the facts; my dad doesn't know you, Jaune's somewhere in that mansion, and I'm about to knock you into a dirt grave!" She burst forward with astonishing speed right as she finished her statement.

"Damn it!" Weiss cursed as she activated her immobilizing glyph too late. She wasn't expecting the furious girl to react so hastily.

"Stay, I will handle this," Alexander grumbled as he quickly stepped past the two obeying androids and the hesitant-looking scythe user.

"_Just like her brother, driven by reckless emotions and blinded by the effects of her Semblance,"_ the elder Schnee mused as he promptly flipped Saglant Coup's pistol barrels inward so he could fully utilize the weapon's knuckle duster form. Not a moment too soon either, because the blonde brawler was in his face just as he finished the shift.

"Hah!" Yang punched forward with all the contained might in her flaming right fist. She grinned sadistically when the hit landed with a resounding shotgun release, causing the older man to wince in pain.

"_Strong!"_ Alexander thought as he felt significant damage through his executed cross block. He planned to follow up with a retaliatory uppercut, but it seemed the girl would have none of it. She was forcing him to play defensive by releasing a barrage of short mid-jabs and occasional snap kicks.

Obviously, the Schnee president knew his limits. As a large-company leader, there wasn't much time available to stay in peak fitness through practice. He was no longer in his heyday, a period he spent as an ambitious youth that excelled as an arena duelist in Atlas' prestigious tournaments. Though, that didn't mean he wasn't prepared for instances like these. He would teach this wild girl to respect a veteran's experience over an adolescent's unruly power. As with any situation presented to him, he had a trump card ready. One that felt very appropriate to use at this moment.

His Semblance.

If Yang had taken a chance to look at Alexander's calculative eyes, she would have seen the sparks of electricity dancing around the depths of his olive-green irises. But she was wholly focused on trying to break down the man's defense as he expertly blocked her combinations. It was actually impressive how he was able to avoid giving her room for a clean shot. Not that it mattered.

Her next attack would end him.

She feinted a left hook, and as expected, the Schnee president made an effort to guard against it. However, instead of executing the full movement of her attack, she swerved her left hand under the man's block and grabbed the lapel of his white suit. With her right fist chambered back for an upset punch to his solar plexus, she threw all her hip weight into letting it…hang limply at her side?

Alexander chuckled heartily at seeing the female brawler's expression of comical disbelief and consequential rage at trying to get her right arm to move.

"What did you do?" Yang demanded, glaring at him as her grip tightened on his partially-singed attire.

"The same thing I'm about to do to the rest of your body, child. Disable it," the silver-haired businessman said in mock amusement, grabbing the girl's offending limb with both hands so his held weapons were in contact. Visible blue lines of electricity coursed through his arms, into Saglant Coup, and then transferred to his intended target.

Without any scream of pain, Yang fell to her knees unceremoniously in an unconscious state.

"_Hm…only took fifty seconds. Satisfactory,"_ Alexander noted, examining his still functional wristwatch with indifference.

"Yang!" Ruby left a trail of rose petals behind as she rushed to her sister's body to hold it protectively. She glared up at the elder Schnee frowning down at her.

"She initiated the fight. I ended it in the most appropriate manner without causing permanent damage. At worst, she will have a minor headache upon waking up. Be happy, Miss Rose, that I deemed that the extent of her suffering for the transgressions imposed today."

"…" Ruby wasn't sure what to say, but timidly nodded nonetheless, cradling her sister's upper body.

Alexander straightened his dirtied suit out and crossed his arms in business-like manner. "Now, as she is unable to answer, and you seem to possess a calmer, more rational head in comparison…what do you choose? Learn about the circumstances here involving your brother and see him again? Or continue fighting like a spoiled, juvenile delinquent that doesn't get their way?"

Before Ruby could respond, a loud stomp came from behind her. From her peripheral, she could see the white-haired girl sending a cynical look of disapproval her way.

"After what just happened, you're still going to offer these rapscallions a choice? Father, if Jaune ran away from his family then he must have a respectable reason for not trying to contact or go back to them. I mean, look at what we're dealing with." Weiss brought her cold glare up to point it in her father's direction. "Send them away. It's the least you could do for blackmailing him," she finished flatly, getting a slight frown from the man.

Weiss tried to ignore the inner turmoil that little fact was causing her. It really made her wonder what her relationship with the blonde knight was founded upon. She didn't consider that his employment might have been for immaterial reasons such as the protection of the very people he was avoiding. It sounded so…confusing. While this didn't hinder her want of his companionship, it definitely made her aware of how much she didn't know about her dorky protector.

Either way, she would remedy that in the coming months. Violent sisters or not, he wasn't about to leave her sight once he returned.

"We'll cooperate," Ruby said loudly, interrupting the heiress' thoughts. "No more fighting. I just…I want to see my brother again." She looked down at her older sister's peaceful face. "We both do."

"Wise decision, Miss Rose," Alexander said noncommittally. He then gestured one of the silent androids over. "Don't worry about carrying your sister with us to my manor, this droid will handle it. Be gentle with her, HK-42."

**"Acknowledged, meatbag,"** it responded accordingly, walking to the downed blonde.

"_Master_, HK," Alexander groaned.

The Atlesian Knight rotated its head to look at the silver-haired man. **"As a non-current machine asset of SDC, I must decline that label. There is no reason to refer to me as Master HK. It is strangely placed in high regard, meatbag."**

"No, HK, I meant when you are referring to me, your owner. I prefer you use _Master _instead of _Meatbag_," he ground out.

**"...Master Meatbag?"**

"This isn't a compromise…"

**"Your command, though not adequately specific, will suffice, mea—…Master."** It resumed giving attention to its appointed duty.

The Schnee President rubbed his forehead irritably. Ironwood did warn him that these AK prototypes had a few bugs, but did the majority of those flaws have to reflect so glaringly in their speech modules?

"Uh, thanks," Ruby muttered, warily watching the odd Atlesian Knight pick her sister up into a one-person lift type of carry. The dark-redhead stood and dusted her combat dress off. Her silver eyes settled on the elder Schnee.

"Follow me, Miss Rose. The walk isn't strenuous and I will have my staff provide refreshments upon arrival. It is almost dinner time, after all. A most important meal," Alexander said with his back facing her. He strode forward, not waiting for a response.

"Don't get too comfortable, though," the Schnee heiress scoffed from beside Ruby, tossing her ponytail back. "Once your family matters are settled, I'll introduce you and your sister to the exit. Without your brother in tow." The white-haired girl tread forward not waiting for a reply, just like the father.

Ruby glared at the backs of both Schnee family members, feeling like she made a fool's decision. _"__How can Jaune stand these two?! They're so…they're so…ARGH! They better have cookies inside! And milk!"_ The dark-redhead stomped forward, face as red as her cloak from mentally fuming.

XxX

_**Evening at the SDC Dust Refinement Factory in Vale's Industrial District…**_

Despite the dimly lit surroundings of the factory's interior loading dock area, it was a hub of activity. Men in black suits were busily moving SDC branded barrels and crates toward the opened doors of five loading trucks outside. Supervising the labor were two males of differing demeanor and fashion.

"Do you see this? THIS is how a smooth operation works! No nosy cops or pesky security, just a bunch of loose inventory waiting for a pair of charitable hands to give them a proper home," said a white-suited man in elation as he puffed on a cigar and kept idle watch over his hired help.

"…This is a waste of time, Torchwick. The black Dust crystals Cinder wanted aren't here, and neither is the equipment that's used to make it. Schnee knew we were coming," the tall mask-wearing Faunus to the man's side replied in a harsh tone, crossing his arms in displeasure.

Roman sighed and tapped an inch of ash off his cigar before glancing over at his not so affable company with a smug grin. "Then why the lack of security, huh? Come on, Flower Boy, don't be such a pessimist. Plus, let's be realistic, Cinder wants ALOT of things. It just so happens that acquiring a large supply of Dust is one of them! So, why don't you stop making those gray clouds above your head and look for the silver linings, eh? You're killing the mood," he finished in a flat tone.

Adam scowled at his associate's words, mostly agitated because of the nickname inappropriately given to him. It was obviously in reference to the floral emblems on his black apparel, rather than being an allusion to him having effeminate qualities. However, instead of entertaining the orange-haired criminal with his ire, he straightened his posture and pointed the pommel of his sword over to what looked to be the last of the Dust containers being loaded.

"Enough boring wordplay, Torchwick, we have what we need. Let's get going."

Roman looked ahead and couldn't help but smile widely at the gorgeous view. Trucks filled to the brim with enormous amounts of Dust product. Simply beautiful. Unfortunately, he still had to ask for Cinder's permission before turning any of it to profit.

"Ah, now for the fun part, delivery…" He eyed the group of tired men and signaled over a particular one looking in his direction timidly. "You, Henchman Number Five! Come here," he ordered the gawking man.

"R-right away, Mr. Torchwick!" the middle-aged, moustached thug complied while wheezing. When he made it to the front of his temporary boss, he audibly gulped. "By the way Mr. Torchwick, you actually assigned me to be Henchman Number Two, not Five."

"Oh, is that so?" Roman asked with a lopsided smirk.

"Ye—"

_BANG!_

Henchman Number Two fell like a rag doll, eyes wide open in horrific surprise and pain with blood visibly seeping into his clothes where he was clearly shot in the chest. Four green Dust crystals slipped out of the man's black suit right as he hit the floor. Given his lack of Aura, and Roman's own piercing ammunition, he didn't stand a chance.

Adam nudged the motionless body with the end of his sheath and nodded over to Roman. "I approve," he simply said before resuming his stiff pose and casual observance.

The entire exchange definitely caught the attention of the remaining seven thugs.

"Workplace accidents are the worst, aren't they, boys? Let's try to avoid any more from happening, okay?" the criminal mastermind flippantly remarked while using his right hand to spin Melodic Cudgel in the air to get rid of the wisps of smoke emanating from its barrel. "Which one of you is Henchman Number Three?"

A hesitant hand rose in the air.

Roman looked at its owner, a stocky man whose neck was barely visible, and gave him a slow golf-clap. "Congratulations! You're now promoted to the austere position of Henchman Number 2! Oh, ho, ho! You're the envy of everyone, Number 2! You get to drag this body into one of the trucks and clean its mess. Henchmen four to seven, make sure our cargo is securely strapped in and then grab a seat. Number 1, distribute the transceivers, we're moving on my word." He turned his back, scooped up the stray Dust crystals on the ground and stepped into the loading dock's exterior setting, a one-hundred twenty yard long concrete area lit by four tall floodlights. Satisfied with the expanse's dead quiet atmosphere and the clear night sky above, he faced his hired help to address them once more.

"Oh, and gentlemen, treat your coworker's untimely death as an example. If you steal from me, I get to steal from you. An eye for eye so we can both be blind about what occurred. Sounds reasonable, right? However, for me, the cost of one Dust crystal is equivalent to one of your pathetic lives. So please, don't annoy me. You're here to move _my _Dust, not share it. Understand?" he asked with a devious grin.

The seven thugs nodded quietly in acknowledgment, fearing any other response would result in an early appointment with death.

"Great! Now, Tuxedo Mask and I will open the gates and meet you at the rendezvous. Get moving, henchmen!" Roman cracked the whip by stomping his cane weapon to the concrete loudly. Seeing the gathered men scurry about to do their assigned duties, he knew his little show did its job. He glanced at his silent associate who was looking in his direction with a large frown. "What?"

"I'm not wearing a tuxedo." With that said, the disgruntled Faunus started walking toward the factory's high security gates outside.

"See, this is what makes you my favorite person to work with, succinct and straight to business!" Roman commented as he followed the Faunus swordsman in a casual gait. Lifting his Melodic Cudgel to rest it on his shoulder, he used his left hand to ash his cigar. "You're not like those other three. One kid tries to outdo my infamous thieving skills by stealing the gum in my pocket, the next keeps telling me I'm one hat tip away from wearing a damn fedora, and Cinder!"

He stopped for a moment and shuddered before continuing his leisurely pace. "Suffice it to say, she reminds me of an ex that ran off with a best friend of mine."

"…Still best friends?" Adam decided to humor the lamenting man.

"Given the burden he took off my hands? Well, I definitely consider us to be. Violent women are always so clingy and hard to get rid of," Roman let loose another insufferable laugh.

"Whatever you say, Torchwick," the male Faunus replied in disinterest as they reached their designated exit. With a rough pull of a nearby lever, the three-layered gate next to them started separating slowly. Turning around, he gave a nod of confirmation to his temporary partner. "Do it."

"Yeah, yeah," Roman said dryly and rolled his eyes. Even Neo was a better conversationalist than this guy. Shrugging, he decided to take solace in that at least tonight's theft had been pretty hassle-free. Seeing the horizontal line of unbranded loading trucks waiting for his command to leave filled him with criminal delight. Shaking away the euphoric feeling, he pulled a slim handheld transceiver from the inside of his suit pocket and pressed the talk button.

"All right, boys, time to finish the job and earn your pay. Arguably, most of it will go to Junior, but you can discuss those specifics with him. Roll out," he ordered, staring at the vehicles intently. The headlights from four of the trucks flipped on as they started moving. A minute later, the vehicles progressed past the opened gate in an orderly fashion.

"Ah, all according to plan," Roman sighed happily, watching the trucks disappear. However that happiness was short-lived because there was one little discrepancy.

The fifth truck had yet to move.

He brought the transceiver up to his thinned-lips. "Truck five, if you didn't notice, your little brothers have left the nest. I highly suggest you start following them unless you'd prefer to be picked off by a hawk wielding a very efficient beating stick. And mind you, taking your lumps from me usually results in poor health."

Three minutes passed without any visual or verbal response.

Roman eyed the device in his hand with a twitching brow. He then threw it to the ground and smashed it with his cane till sparks sputtered out. Without looking at the Faunus swordsman, he held out his gloved hand. "Mind lending me yours? I think mine broke."

"…" Ignoring the thief's volatile behavior, Adam took his own transceiver out and put it in the man's empty palm before going back to tapping Wilt's hilt impatiently.

Pressing the talk button once again, Roman decided to convey his current dissatisfaction in the appropriate manner. With more threats. "Attention, fine gentlemen in truck five, if you haven't developed sudden deafness, I recommend you listen to my next words carefully. You see, I'm a man with a very particular set of—shit!"

Loud static erupted from the speaker of the communication device, causing Roman to drop it to cover his ears protectively. He didn't waste any time giving it the same fate as its predecessor, this time using his foot.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered angrily.

"Time to leave. Someone intercepted our encryption and is blocking our communication channels," Adam said in stoic calmness, bringing up his Scroll for Roman to see.

Roman's green eyes narrowed at the contents. "The loop footage is gone! And the factory's monitoring network is back up?! Your people were supposed to have this part handled! Honestly, what kind of daft amateurs am I working with?" He poked the Faunus swordsman hard on the chest.

Adam slapped the offending hand away and grasped his weapon's hilt tightly as he bit back the urge to stab the criminal. "They did their part perfectly, Torchwick. Your slow, contracted human trash on the other hand, didn't. If you're dissatisfied with the White Fang's services, I'll gladly listen to your complaints using the end of my blade," he growled out.

Knowing how skilled this particular Faunus was with a sword, Roman immediately backed down, shook his head dismissively, and leaned on his cane. "Alright, alright! No need for theatrics, Raging Bull. While your offer is much appreciated, I'd rather not dirty my suit or delay our little delivery any longer. Let's just forget I said anything and go back to being cooperatively hostile cohorts, eh?" He gave the swordsman a mock bow and smug grin.

Adam grunted in annoyance and pushed past the orange-haired man who almost stumbled from the aggressive action. "It's a good thing you're somewhat useful, Torchwick. Otherwise, my sword would be carving a path through that crooked spine of yours."

Roman smirked haughtily at his colleague's back. "Oh, that's quite the heavy compliment coming from you, Flower Boy! I hope you're not hiding a gift for me under that tacky trench coat, too."

Adam chose to ignore him.

Halfway to the truck, Roman cautiously examined his gold wristwatch. "How long do we have before company arrives?"

"Ten minutes, at least. Plenty of time," Adam replied while walking. However, he stopped abruptly when he noticed something. No, "felt" was the better word for it. A familiar presence…

Roman took notice of the masked-Faunus' alert stance and quickly scanned the area. Frowning, he tightened his hold on Melodic Cudgel and prepared it to fire. "What is it, boy? You smell something?"

"You're really pushing it, Torchwick."

Immediately, all four floodlights turned off loudly, submerging the large area in the natural darkness of night. The subtle luminescence from the stars and shattered-moon above replaced the artificial light. An ominous, chilly wind from the evening breeze swept over their location.

"Ten minutes, he said…" Roman grumbled to himself.

The sound of boots slapping concrete caused both males to turn around quickly; Roman aiming his weapon for a well-placed explosive shot, and Adam's hand hovering over Wilt's hilt, ready to sever the disturbance.

"You know what they say: time and tide wait for no man." A male teen with messy blonde hair stepped forward, several feet across from them. He had a confident grin on and held a relaxed posture with both hands in his pockets.

Joining the boy's side was a dark-haired girl of similar age, but a more serious disposition. She stared straight at the masked Faunus whose expression hardened in recognition. Her determined, golden eyes shone in the darkness.

"Adam, we need to talk."

**To Be Continued…**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>First off, thank you to everyone who welcomed me back to this fandom and for doing the usual displays of gratitude and constructive criticism. I was really blown away by the response for the last chapter! This entry is another sort-of-roughdraft that I felt was sufficient enough to upload, but still in consideration of being nitpicky about with editing. I tried to churn this out a bit faster than usual as a sort of appreciative note for those who decided to keep following and gave such heartfelt welcomes in messages and reviews.

To summarize the content; we got a little flashback with Yang that disposed hints of a troubled family dynamic that is slowly recovering, a semi-compromise between the Schnee family and Jaune's hasty sisters, and a little scene displaying the shaky relationship between two members of Cinder's faction. Also, a mention that there might be a deal or some other between Alexander and Taiyang that concerns Jaune. Which might just be a lie on Alexander's part. Who knows? Either way, everyone's on edge, each for their own particular reasons. And most of that edge won't dull till someone returns to explain himself.

Anyway, if you find yourself willing, feel free to drop a review on my face!

Cheers!

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><p>Shout-Out to: Schatzkiste in Tokyo, Barbara from RT, Bella Morte, Bauhaus, Naruto, the Apache revolver, KotOR, Sailor Moon, 1980 movie Raging Bull, and Taken 1.<p> 


	8. Facing the Past to Seize a Future, P4

**Disclaimer: **The RWBY universe is owned by Rooster Teeth Productions. I do not claim ownership, or do this for any monetary gain.

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><p><strong>Pre-Chapter Author's Note: <strong>Salutations, everyone! It's been another damn long time, I know. But I hesitate to apologize due to the reasons behind it. Radiation therapy sucks. Anyway, once more, thanks for all the different feedback. Knowing what you like, dislike, and whatelsenot helps contribute to my development from a shoddy writer to a less-shoddy writer. It's especially heartening to read the detailed reviews that are dropped kindly on my face. Hopefully you know who you are.

A HUGE shout-out of appreciation to deviant artist and fanfiction author "Exvnir". He made a kickass white-pencil drawing on black paper of Jaune's Grimm form. When I saw it, I was touched in some very special places that we won't discuss. Since I don't believe posting links is allowed in fics, I'll post the appropriate directory to his drawing on my profile.

During my bed-ridden recovery, I also attempted to be creative with pencils and stuff. However, I'm not that skilled with drawing my thoughts on paper. If you find yourself with time, and don't mind tarnishing the image of Jaune's Grimm form a little in your mind, please give my own deviantart link a visit, too. I tried drawing different versions of Jaune's Grimm form, as I haven't finished toying around with a final idea yet. Think I might be subconsciously waiting for someone else to do that job, haha!

Lastly, I will apologize for the quality of this chapter. I got a little overwhelmed by... feelings, I guess, while in the middle of writing it at the 5k point. The stuff they have me on can make you feel great, but also mess around with your head a bit. It's sometimes hard to sort out what emotions are chemically-induced by prescriptions, and which ones are appropriately evoked. It's crazy stuff, but at least the Vicodin candy is nice.

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><p><strong>RWBY<strong>

**The Grimm Knight**

Facing the Past to Seize a Future

Part IV

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><p><em><strong>Late evening at Schnee Manor...<strong>_

"That is the crux of it, of how and why I sought Jaune specifically for the position he now has," Alexander finished explaining to his mansion's unexpected guests. He omitted the gritty details concerning his family's murders due to Weiss being in the room. However, it probably didn't matter since his quiet daughter seemed to be listening halfheartedly as she pored over the documents he reluctantly gave her concerning Jaune's background.

"Mfftr Shfee—"

"Rubes, swallow your food then talk," Yang ordered in a motherly tone from her relaxed position on the comfortable couch she was occupying. She moved the ice pack on her head higher to avoid it slipping down on her face again.

Sitting on the same couch as her sister, Ruby did as commanded and let out an embarrassed laugh afterwards, putting her plate of warm cookies onto the coffee table in front of her for later appreciation. Straightening her posture, she looked at the silver-haired man in curiosity. "Mr. Schnee, you didn't mention what our dad had to do with all this. You said it was a favor?"

Alexander leaned his elbows on his oaken desk and laced his hands together. "Yes. Shortly after Jaune ran away, Taiyang contacted me in hopes of locating your missing brother. However, he didn't want me to bring him back to Patch, he simply wanted me to keep an eye on him instead. And since your father is an old friend of mine, I agreed to do so with limited resources. I only paid minimal attention to the requested task, sending an occasional drone to find your nomadic brother every few days."

The silver-haired Schnee unclasped his hands and leaned back into his padded oak chair before continuing. "It wasn't until Jaune started making a name for himself from his random escapades that I began to pay more direct attention to his activities."

"That it? Huh... okay," Ruby accepted the man's brief answer with a simple nod, not bothered by her father's involvement at all.

"Miss Rose, if I may, can I ask you a question about your brother?" Alexander asked.

The dark-redhead perked up. "Sure! What is it?"

"Do you know about Jaune's unique power, the one that causes him to look like a humanoid Grimm?" Alexander inquired with audible interest.

Ruby fidgeted. "I've seen it, but I don't really understand what it is exactly… I was with him when he first used it, though."

"I see. What were the circumstances behind that event, what made him awaken it?" Alexander pushed determinedly, despite the girl's evident uncomfortableness.

"Well…" Ruby solemnly looked down at the floor. "We were running away from a dangerous Grimm. Jaune was protecting me from it and got stabbed, and I... I wasn't strong enough to fight it. Because of my stupidity we—"

"Sis, stop! We've talked about this. None of what happened was your fault." Yang quickly sat up to place a consoling arm around her distraught little sister. She pulled her smaller frame in close and patted her head affectionately.

"R-right. Sorry for almost getting emotional again," Ruby gave her sister an apologetic smile.

"It's fine," Yang said softly before bringing her protective gaze to the silver-haired Schnee, a hint of danger behind their steely lilac depths. "We're done with our questions. Are you done with yours?"

"Quite," Alexander responded without protest. He gave the small dark-redhead a gentle smile. "I apologize for the invasive nature of my inquiry, Miss Rose. I merely wanted to understand your brother's interesting ability from a different perspective so I could possibly assist him in training it. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to even if I did offer him help. He isn't very receptive to offered assistance, it seems."

"No harm done," Ruby waved his concern away with a shake of the head. "And yeah, Jaune's the type of person who's way more willing to provide help than want it. Back when we were together in Patch, I would usually have to fake crying until he would cave in and let me help finish his algebra homework."

Alexander hummed lowly with a nod. "He is stubborn to a fault"

"But you shouldn't worry about him, Mr. Schnee. I mean, it's not like he doesn't have his powers under control," the modestly smiling girl added. "You wouldn't risk having him around here otherwise, right?"

"That is true… In any case, please ignore my previous rude behavior and continue enjoying the baked goods Gregory prepared. Remember, you are a guest here till our business has concluded. Feel free to visit the manor's kitchen for more refreshments or take advantage of any other facilities that may interest you," Alexander placated the mild-mannered girl.

"I'm fine just hanging around in here with Yang and Weiss. Someone's gotta make sure they don't kill each other. Anyway, I spied a few books on your shelves about ancient Remnant weaponry. Think I'll give them a look," Ruby chirped happily as she hopped off her seat and skipped to a different side of the room where said tomes were located.

Alexander watched her leave with a considerate look on his face.

Inwardly, he was disappointed from not receiving any new information concerning Jaune, a complex individual that had been cultivating his interest ever since he first started investigating the boy's suspicious background and abnormal characteristics. Grimm Knight form aside, it wasn't just the existence of a second Aura signature that made Jaune an extraordinary specimen; it was also the rarity of the opposing elements which his two different Semblances worked with. If any of the kingdoms' councils discovered the young blonde's harbored duality, they would no doubt drag him to their labs for experimentation and in-depth research.

This was especially true of Vacuo, the kingdom known to play god by using a mix of alchemical and technological knowledge. Recently, many horrific stories were circulating around the kingdoms about Vacuo's biotechnology branch attempting to recreate specific Semblances in human subjects. It was also rumored that they had one success, at the cost of eighty lives. The validity of these dark claims weren't known, but Alexander wouldn't outright doubt the possibility of it being true, nor would he risk the blonde knight becoming an unwilling participant in its myth.

After eight months of close company and observance of Jaune Arc, Alexander had become quite familiar with the young man, to the point where he was beginning to feel like the boy was family instead of a contracted prisoner of his negotiation. Overall, he felt secure with the idea of having Jaune become an official part of the Schnee family. Despite the damaging events that had occurred in the past few years, the Schnee name still held immense power and influence. Including Jaune into his familial ranks would most certainly deter any aggressive Council action in acquiring the blonde swordsman for their ulterior motives, should they grow interested in his powers.

But how should he go about solidifying Jaune into his prestigious family? Full-time employment with SDC wouldn't carry the same benefits of protection from the kingdoms, so what were his options? Adopting was obviously out of the question. Perhaps he could trick the boy into signing a marriage contract? While archaic, it would do the job, and he could easily revoke it with his expert hand should he feel the need.

Now the question was specifically "who"? Weiss was the immediate thought. Jaune had proven himself to be a positive influence in her life, and she was obviously enamored with him already… but that wouldn't do. If Elise was alive, she'd smack him into a coma for even thinking about forcing their daughter into such a situation. And as her father, he wasn't comfortable with the idea of manipulating that part of her future in such a way.

Were there any other female candidates within the extended Schnee family who were of Jaune's age group and not in hiding due to fear of the White Fang?

…There was. Winter Schnee, his first cousin's daughter who was a year younger than Weiss and currently attending school in Atlas. He had talked to the personable girl on multiple occasions and never failed to be impressed by her ambitious attitude. Though her personality did have hints of unorthodox behavior, he was sure Jaune would find it endearing.

It was settled. All he had to do now was arrange an event of some kind for them to meet, and then guide their paths from afar afterwards. Given his power over Jaune's schedule and duties, it would be an easy task. This wouldn't be the first time he played matchmaker. It would only be the first time he had done so without purely political reasons.

"Hey, old man Schnee! Are you listening to me or daydreaming about your butler posing on your bed in nothing but pink boxers?" A boisterous voice pierced Alexander's internal musings.

Alexander narrowed his humorless olive-green eyes and glared into the vibrant lilac orbs belonging to a blonde wearing an impish smile.

"What do you need, Miss Xiao Long? I've told you everything there is to know, and have allowed you and your sister the overwhelming freedom of roaming my home while we wait for your brother's return. After such a generous display of trust and hospitality, must you plant such ridiculous scenarios into the minds of myself and those within my sanctum?"

"Whoa, touchy wordy," Yang remarked as she kicked her legs up and laid her boots on the coffee table in front of her. "I was just wondering if you'd tell me why your resorted to using cheap tactics to take me down earlier?"

Alexander sighed heavily. "Using one's Semblance is hardly a case of 'cheap' tactics. Do you really wish to discuss your inept failing at being a prepared, versatile fighter?"

Yang gave the silver-haired man a look of skepticism. "Let me get this straight, Alexander. You think bioelectricity capable of ignoring an opponent's Aura shield isn't cheap?"

"It only worked in such a way because of the weapons I use and the amount of Aura I pushed into the attack, child. Sanglant Coup is made of a special conductive metal that is capable of greatly amplifying the output of my Semblance. During that fight, I gambled most of my Aura into releasing abundant bioelectricity because I could sense you were concentrating your own Aura entirely into offense while completely ignoring defense," Alexander explained in a patient tone.

"Well, I was sorta angry and really wanted to cave that balding head of yours in," Yang quipped as she readjusted the ice pack on her crown.

The silver-haired man scoffed. "Anger kills logical thinking and makes you the puppet of your opponents, girl. You'd do well to remember that."

"What book did you pull that one from?" the blonde brawler asked disinterestedly.

"None. It is one of many wise sayings passed down in the honorable Schnee family," Alexander said proudly.

"I swear, every time you say 'Schnee' all I hear is 'asshole'," Yang mumbled.

"What was that?" the SDC president asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I said I'm going to catch a few Z's before I go raid your kitchen," Yang replied nonchalantly as she closed her eyes and switched positions on the couch so that she was now lying comfortably on her back.

Nearby, Weiss ignored the entire exchange between her father and Jaune's siblings, even as it progressed. From her seat at the round oak table in the middle of the room, she continued to be absorbed in the pictures and written contents of the files before her curious ice-blue eyes. Various papers lay scattered haphazardly across the table, along with numerous photographs of a younger-looking Jaune Arc.

Currently, she was studying a brief report about her blond protector during his last year at Patch's combat institution. It was apparently made a week before his voluntary disappearance, meaning the information was almost three years old and out-of-date.

_**SIGNAL ACADEMY QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT**_

_**Grade 8 Class C**_

_**Student Profile**_

_**Name: **__Jaune Arc_

_**Place of Birth: **__Domrey Village, Atlas _

_**Race: **__Human _

_**Gender: **__Male _

_**Age: **__13_

_**Height: **__165 cm _

_**Weight: **__43 kg _

_**Blood Type: **__O _

_**Hair Color: **__Blonde_

_**Eye Color: **__Dark Blue_

_**Student Tournament Results **_

_**Class Division Rank: **__Resigned Participation_

_**Grade Division Rank: **__Resigned Participation_

_**Academy Division Rank: **__Resigned Participation_

_**Grand Master Panel Commentary – **__The student surrendered from all of his matches without attempting battle. When questioned by the assigned tournament judges, he stated that "Humanity isn't the enemy. The Grimm are." His insubordinate behavior and lack of presence in the quarterly tournaments will negatively affect his overall end-of-term grades. _

_**Grimm Gauntlet Results**_

_**Class Division Score: **__11830 (Top 1%)_

_**Grade Division Score: **__12080 (Top 5%)_

_**Academy Division Score: **__11069 (Top 5%)_

_**Grand Master Panel Commentary – **__The student displayed exceptional skill and knowledge when traversing various scenarios against different species of Grimm. He dispatched low-tier Grimm in an efficient and timely manner and employed appropriate strategy when dealing with significantly greater threats. However, he did show weakness in his dealings with the Stryx and Gidlungr avian Grimm. He used basic luring tactics in order to bring them in close range for decisive blows._

_**Combat Stat Evaluation**_

_**Strength: **__A _

_**Endurance: **__A _

_**Agility: **__C+_

_** Marksmanship: **__F_

_**Strategy: **__A_

_**Aura Capacity: **__S_

_**Aura Control: **__S_

_**Dust Skill: **__F_

_**Grand Master Panel Commentary – **__The student failed to utilize Dust in all forms of application. Despite receiving adequate grades in his assigned remedial courses of Dust Theory and Dust Warfare, he was unable to produce any result other than an explosive reaction when handling Dust for the practical portion of his examination. Various combinations of the energy propellant were used in the test. All yielded the same effect. This is the second year after his first Dust examination that this has occurred. __Given the student's Aura capacity and improved control, there is no natural attributable cause for such a reaction. This unique case will be brought to the attention of the academy's physician._

_As noted in the previous section, the student has no form of firearm on his person, which is a huge detriment to a Hunter's arsenal. All Hunters should be prepared to encounter species of Grimm with ranged behavior and attack patterns. In cases where a Hunter has exhausted their Aura, a firearm is of utmost necessity against aerial Grimm. He will be referred to the academy's weaponsmith, V__ö__lun Wayland, for appropriate instruction. _

The report ended.

Weiss closed her eyes and contemplated this new batch of information. There were so many questions bouncing around her head that she was starting to feel the familiar pulsing of a headache ebbing in.

"Uh… Weiss, didn't you say you're Jaune's friend? Don't you think it's wrong to be invading his privacy like that?"

Suddenly, her oncoming headache became a guaranteed migraine. She glared at the spot where the perky voice came from. Sitting in a chair on the other side of the round table was the young scythe-wielder who was leveling a judgmental stare on her.

"I'm doing this BECAUSE he is my friend. The more I learn about his background, the easier it will be for me to understand and help him. It's simple psychology," Weiss grimaced.

"But the way you're going about it isn't right. It's no different than reading a person's private journal or diary. You should trust Jaune to open up to you about all his personal details when he's ready," Ruby responded with intensity.

"Are you aware how tight-lipped and evasive your brother is when it comes to talking about himself?" Weiss scowled at the naïve girl seeking to lecture her. However, she noticed, it seemed the dark-redhead had become interested with something other than their conversation, as made evident by the girl's silver eyes focusing elsewhere instead of returning her challenging ice-blue stare. She was about to reprimand the girl's inattention when she suddenly disappeared from her seat in a flurry of roses.

A small hand shot past her head.

"What're these papers next to you? They have Jaune's handwriting on them," Ruby commented as she grabbed said articles and teleported away with them before the white-haired girl could catch her. She reappeared on the round oak table, sitting casually on its polished surface while starting her exploration of the material.

"Give those letters back right now, you thief!" Weiss stood up abruptly, knocking down her chair in the process. Her expression hardened with fury as she withdrew Myrtenaster and pressed its revolving Dust chamber into action. She was about to summon a glyph with her left hand when it was unexpectedly stopped in midair by a firm grip around her slim wrist.

"Weiss, calm yourself. These young ladies are our guests and will be treated as such. They surrendered their weapons and have promised to withhold hostile action during their stay. If you attack either of them, you would be tarnishing our honor as Schnee," Alexander spoke with a strong voice. He let go of his fuming daughter when she slackened and dropped her sword. Fortunately, he also felt Yang's fiery Aura behind him taper off from witnessing the action. The room was stifling enough without the blonde brawler's active Semblance.

Bending down, he picked up the rapier that had thudded onto the floor. "I understand today's events have been… draining on you, Weiss, but do not allow it to cloud rational thought. Whatever documents Miss Rose has in her possession isn't worth concern or provocation. She has the right to know about her brother as much as you do."

Weiss nodded dully, lips set in an agitated frown. "I understand, Father."

"I'm actually the one at fault," Ruby said aloud, appearing out of nowhere by the heiress' side, roses floating astray in her wake. "I kind of baited her into reacting like that. Sorry, Mr. Schnee."

Weiss held a subtle expression of surprise from hearing the girl's unexpected apology.

"I see… In that case, my words may not have been completely warranted. My apologies, Weiss," Alexander said softly, handing back Myrtenaster.

"I… she isn't fully to blame, Father. It's as you said, I acted irrationally. It won't happen again," Weiss affirmed as she accepted her weapon and sheathed it.

Alexander nodded his approval and then directed his stern gaze to the demure girl next to Weiss. "As for you, Miss Rose, please refrain from 'baiting' my daughter's anger again. It can be tiresome to deal with."

"I won't! Promise," Ruby held her pinky finger up and grinned.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business matters to attend to that require my correspondence. Do try to keep your noise down to a minimum level," Alexander said to both girls as he walked back to the open laptop at his desk. He ignored the snoring ambiance of the blonde teenager on his office couch who had somehow returned to the world of sleep in a matter of seconds.

Ruby turned to the subdued girl who was looking at her skeptically. She handed back the small paper stack she stole. "I thought these were something else. Sorry."

Weiss wordlessly snatched the papers from the scythe-user's offered hand and fixed a harsh stare on her. "What did you think they were?"

"I was hoping they were letters Jaune was writing for me or Yang. Back at Patch, when Jaune was with us, he'd leave little notes or letters next to our beds if he wasn't around to deliver a message. It's a bit old-fashioned, but I guess that's what made them special. I always looked forward to reading whatever he wrote, so I got excited when I saw his handwriting," Ruby explained with a sheepish smile. She then gave a chuckle of embarrassment. "I guess I wasn't far from the truth, though. It looks like those letters weren't addressed to us, they were addressed to you."

"...Yes, and I foolishly collect them as a reminder of our friendship. I know it's… weird, but it brings me solace when I read them. He tends to leave these on my nightstand whenever my father plans to send him away for other duties," Weiss admitted quietly as she carefully laid the hand-written messages on the table.

"You weren't lying about being his friend, were you? Those notes seemed pretty personal. I only caught a glimpse of a few, but I did read some interesting things about you in them," Ruby remarked with a mischievous expression.

"L-like what?" Weiss asked as her face quickly turned red, remembering particular passages where her blond bodyguard might have jokingly mentioned a few of her strange habits or weaknesses that he knew and no one else did.

Ruby gave the girl a serious look, abandoning her cheery visage. "In one of the letters, he mentioned how he held you to sleep after a nightmare you had about your father being killed by the White Fang. And in another… something about how your mother's death wasn't your fault?"

Weiss hands trembled in barely controlled anger. "That's… you have no right reading such private matters! It's unethical, reprehensible, and—"

"Wrong?" Ruby finished with a knowing smile.

The heiress' ice-blue eyes narrowed in annoyance, despite the clarity of the situation that dawned upon her. "…Fine. You've made your point. I won't go through Jaune's files anymore. Satisfied?"

"Nope!" Ruby pulled another swift disappearing act, catching the white-haired girl off guard.

"Stop doing that!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Can't help it. Gotta go fast," the dark-redhead responded cheekily as she reappeared in front of the frustrated heiress with a checkerboard and an accompanying box of chess pieces. "Want to play a game?"

Weiss smirked haughtily at the chance to get some form of revenge on the deceptively clever girl. She gracefully plucked a white queen piece from the open box. "Prepare yourself for defeat, Ruby Rose. The White Queen of Atlas knows no mercy."

Ruby grinned back at the heiress with equal challenge and set both board and box onto the table next to them. She then grabbed a black knight piece and held it high in the air, as if she had already won. "The Black Knights of Vale will submerge your weak kingdom in total darkness!"

Weiss responded to the girl's dramatic pose and statement with an unimpressed, half-lidded stare. "Set the board up before I change my mind."

"Tch. You're no fun," Ruby pouted as she followed the older girl's orders.

From his seat at the desk, Alexander shook his head with a small grin and returned to his work of replying to business mail.

The blonde girl "sleeping" on the couch had a smirk of her own on as she observed the scene with barely cracked open eyes. Maybe Weiss Schnee wasn't as bad as she thought. Sure, the heiress had misplaced affections for Jaune, but it wasn't like the white-haired girl stood a chance against her in that department. Once her brother returned, she'd end that competition without having to lift a single finger.

Hopefully Weiss wasn't too sore of a loser.

XxX

_**Elsewhere, at the SDC Refinement Factory…**_

"_The stronger the plan, the more likely it is the unexpected will occur. A great majority of Hunters stumble into failure because they lack the ability to create new plans in the face of unsuccessful ones. The cost of such failure is high, and the resulting consequences are a lasting reminder of that. So, how does one avoid such a fate? …Simple. Adapt or perish. Those are your only options."_

Jaune could vividly recall Qrow's apathetic face delivering that statement which was supposed to serve as a warm welcome to students newly enrolled in Signal's Grimm Tactics course. He never truly appreciated its meaning until he embarked on his abrupt training journey nearly three years ago. Since then, he'd become quite proficient at planning on the fly.

Of course, fighting random species of Grimm in uncharted territories kind of forced him into getting better at that particular skill. And his desire to protect others reinforced it. However, it was a skill he was still only accustomed to practicing in combat. For situations like the one he was in tonight, where stealth and rhetoric played a significant role, he was way out of his comfort zone. His attempt at dealing with Alexander months ago definitely highlighted that incompetency. Luckily for him, his new Faunus friend, who was familiar with both diplomacy and espionage, was in charge of this little operation.

If it wasn't for Roman Torchwick's presence, Jaune would have been hanging back near the truck where Blake knocked the man's thugs out. But since this unexpected, certifiably corrupt participant was around, he decided to tie the unconscious men up and accompany her, if only to provide a possible distraction while she tried reasoning with Adam Taurus.

Swiping the stray thoughts aside, Jaune refocused his attention on the matter at hand, legs ready to throw him into action to protect the dark-haired girl at his side if needed. While neither criminal had immediately reacted to Blake's comment, it looked like the infamous thief of the two had a response ready.

Actually, it looked more like the guy was talking to himself…

"Ah, lucky you, Roman. Three of the things you hate most in the world are all gathered right here for your great amusement; kids, animals, and interruptions," Roman muttered sarcastically. He scrutinized the amber-eyed girl across from him with a critical gaze. From the way she addressed Adam, it seemed she apparently had some kind of history with his masked associate.

But that meant next to nothing to him.

He cared little for other people's backgrounds, and even less for stories that didn't involve him as the main character. And given the present circumstances, he felt like getting his own life chapter moving, lest more trouble come and ruin his previously beautiful night out.

"Sorry, girlie, but Mr. Smiles here is busy helping me fulfill an important agenda. If you want to schedule an appointment with him, I suggest you do so on your own time, not mine." Roman smirked arrogantly as he audibly popped the aiming reticle up on his cane-cannon, barrel pointed straight at the dark beauty's head. "Understand?"

Jaune's body tensed at the action while Blake didn't even flinch or spare her antagonizer a cursory glance.

"Whoa, hold on! We're not here to fight," Jaune held his hands up in a placating manner. "My adorably serious partner here only wants to talk with your colleague about White Fang related matters. That's it."

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Torchwick," Blake addressed the skeptical thief with her poker face set in place. "My former mentor has proven to be very hard to get in contact with these past few years, and a friend of mine said tonight would be the best opportunity to catch him before he went back into hiding."

"That friend of yours doesn't sound like a friend of mine," Roman murmured.

"Like she said, we're not here to interrupt. You're free to continue whatever you were doing," Jaune supplemented, gesturing to the loading truck behind them with a jerk of the thumb. "Your guys got a bit fidgety with their guns when they saw us drop in, so we took some liberties to defuse the situation."

He wasn't about to mention the trackers Blake threw on each truck shortly before the vehicles departed.

"Was restarting this place's security network one of those liberties, kid?" Roman asked dryly.

"The methods used to mask your presence here were too obvious, like flashing an infrared light at a camera. I've already employed better distractions against the SDC monitoring equipment so I could talk with Adam uninterrupted," Blake stated in a professional tone.

"Hmph. She's right," Adam finally contributed to the discussion, seemingly unconcerned about their presence and purpose. If anything, the Faunus swordsman sounded impressed. He was looking down at his Scroll, fingers busily moving to and fro. "SDC's main network hasn't been alerted about our activity here."

"Fine, okay… then how about the romantic lighting? Care to explain that?" Roman inquired, still unconvinced about their intentions.

"Ah, well…" Jaune scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I actually argued against doing it, but my friend here has a flair for the dramatics and wanted to make an entrance."

Blake shot a betrayed glare at the blonde who flinched upon feeling it.

"Hah! She's similar to a colleague of ours who jumps around different outfits like they're going out of style the hour after she puts it on. At least she doesn't do the same with her code name," Roman said with good humor. However, his cheerful disposition quickly left, as signified by the loud click from his aimed cane weapon. "Anyway, paranoia is a constant ally of mine and I trust it a whole lot more than you two brats. Before I put a hole in your empty juvenile brains, how about you—"

"Leave them to me and continue the delivery," a sultry feminine voice interrupted. From behind the white-suited man, a slender figure wearing a skintight black outfit with a black hood over her face sauntered forward and slowly pushed the cane cannon down. "Use the entrance gates as your exit, as I'll be occupying this area now."

Neither Jaune nor Blake saw the woman arrive, putting them on edge instantly. The dockyard they were in was large and unobstructed, lit well enough by the fractured moon above to see anyone approaching, and had a concrete surface that reflected noise, such as footsteps, considerably. Given all that, it made her sudden appearance that much more intimidating.

"When did hoods get so popular?" Jaune wondered as he examined the woman. Unfortunately, he couldn't determine much due to her concealing attire. Only the bottom half of her face was visible, displaying an alluring pair of lips curved up at one side in what looked to be amusement. It reminded him exactly of when he first met Blake on the rooftop. Minus the menacing air, of course.

Speaking of the cat Faunus…

"Looks like someone is copying your style. Is she White Fang?" the blonde knight whispered subtly in Blake's direction, hoping for some enlightenment.

"Complete unknown. Let's stay quiet and observe for now," Blake responded cautiously. Her furrowed brows indicated she was as equally confused about the woman's identity as him.

"Ah, speak of the fashionista devil! I had a feeling this was your doing," Roman said with a wry grin as he tapped Melodic Cudgel lightly against his shoulder, having moved it away from its hostile position. "No offense, Phoenix, but nothing ever goes the way I plan it to when you're skulking around in the shadows nearby. While your supervision is appreciated, I'm pretty sure Raging Bull and I can handle these two kids alone. That includes whoever else they dragged along to play vigilante tonight."

The woman dubbed "Phoenix" walked past the notorious thief and looked in Jaune's direction with a predatory grin. A familiar feeling of unease crept up the blonde swordsman's spine. During his travels, he only felt this way when especially strong Grimm were nearby.

Whoever this lady was, she definitely wasn't to be underestimated.

"Don't worry, Roman. I'm not here to scrutinize you." Phoenix stopped her casual gait upon nearing Adam's side. "Tonight, I'm here to inspect a prospective Piece and help our mutual friend, Adam, take care of his small security leak problem before it turns into a flood of annoyances."

A sadistic smile adorned her face when she shifted the direction of her hidden gaze to Blake. "This darkened setting is quite fitting for your fall, isn't it, Shadow of the North?"

Jaune hid his surprise to the woman's casually delivered comment as best he could.

His partner, on the other hand...

"_How? I've always covered my tracks, there's nothing to link me!"_ Blake's thoughts ran rampant as she tried to maintain a cool façade. Calming herself, she quickly considered her two immediate options for response; claim ignorance by saying she didn't know who this "Shadow" person was, or act like her alias was a separate entity she previously worked for as a messenger of sorts?

The first was too textbook and had an extremely high probability of failing. The second would only minimize the damage delivered to her already fractured relationship with Adam. Either way, if he believed this woman's accusation, his blinding rage would definitely call off any opportunity of peaceful discussion. She needed to say something before this devolved into the violence she wished to avoid. Staring at her masked mentor, she decided to shoot for option two.

"…!" Blake's words caught in her throat as soon as she moved her lips to release sound. Her amber eyes widened in panic.

"That Aura, it feels like…" Jaune trailed off as he glared at the White Fang operative in careful surveillance, completely unaware of Blake's debilitated state.

"So my assumptions were correct," Adam commented idly, staring at the terrified face of his stock-still former apprentice. He gave his female ally a short nod of approval. "My resources were taking too long in tracking this 'Shadow' person down. Now I know why. I taught her what she knows, but apparently I didn't teach her well enough. I'll have to thank you later, Phoenix."

The hooded woman waved his gratitude away coolly with an elegant hand. "Your continued cooperation with Roman is thanks enough, Adam. Though, I do expect you to keep a tighter watch on your members once this problem is resolved. The White Fang has no use to me as a broken tooth, after all."

"Understood," Adam simply replied. He glanced at the blonde teen intently watching them talk. "…Is that the puppet? He doesn't look like much."

"Puppet? What the hell do you mean by that?" Jaune asked the male Faunus who seemed to ignore his look of confusion.

"He's more human than the flawed dolls Atlas has been creating lately. And as you know, judging a weapon by its sheath is never reliable," the cryptic woman replied to her cohort. Her smirk then developed a cruel edge to it. "Don't hold back on the girl, Adam. This particular sword will need motivation to be fully drawn out of its scabbard. I'm sure she'll be an appropriate catalyst."

"That won't be a problem. I've been waiting to correct my past mistake." Adam placed his right foot back and firmly grasped the top of his sheath in his left hand. His intense, masked gaze focused solely on his target; Blake Belladonna.

She wasn't the same person he met and trained many years ago. That Blake Belladonna had been a broken yet strong girl, a proud Faunus who learned fast and used her talents to help the White Fang in its admirable goal of creating a future their race rightly deserved. The Blake before him, however, was traitorous and weak. She had squandered his mercy of letting her live only to stab him in the back. Again.

He didn't intend on making the same mistake twice.

"…!" Blake tried once more to speak, to rebuke the mysterious woman's words, but she couldn't cease the mute effect of what was ailing her. Her body fought against her mental commands to move, as if paralyzed. Hesitantly, her distressed amber eyes locked onto the masked man that almost ended her life three years ago. She knew he was the cause of her current inability, but the Aura technique he was using wasn't capable of this strong of immobilization. How was it so strong?

That's when she saw it, wisps of barely visible darkness coming off his tall figure like dying flames in a campfire. Adam's Aura had changed.

Right as she made this realization, a foreign pain coursed through her head. Images of Adam looking down at her beaten form flashed by, her body pierced in different areas by a red blade that sought bloody retribution. The visions kept looping. In only two seconds of exposure to this, she felt like she'd been stabbed more than a hundred times.

Her vision started to waver.

"_This is getting out of hand real quick! Shouldn't Blake be playing diplomat?"_ Jaune internally stressed and looked to his side in alarm, only to silence his hectic thoughts from seeing the trembling frame of his partner. He quickly rushed to her side.

"Blake, you with me? Blake?" He shook the shocked girl lightly and frowned in concern. Her eyes were unfocused, breathing erratic and cold forehead accumulating sweat. He'd seen this kind of reaction before, mainly having witnessed it from villagers he encountered during Grimm herd attacks. It looked like the cat Faunus was having an anxiety attack. Luckily, he had just the right prescription to snap her out of it; an infusion of his warming Aura.

But he needed time. Or to be more accurate, he needed to create a distraction so these people didn't take advantage of his, and Blake's, momentary weakness. Maybe a flash grenade courtesy of his primary Semblance? Even if it took a significant amount of Aura to produce, it sounded like his best option.

"Sorry to interrupt this fun drama party, but is my role as the fifth wheel here done yet?"

Jaune glanced at the white-suited criminal who had grabbed the attention of his two colleagues, both whom looked quite irritated. Seeing this as his one opportunity, he decided to hold off on making anything and focused on the girl in his arms. Grasping Blake's slender shoulders gently, he started pushing his golden-white Aura into the unresponsive girl while keeping a watchful eye on the three adults.

"You never miss a chance to stay silent, do you Torchwick?" Adam asked sarcastically.

Roman twirled Melodic Cudgel in one hand and chuckled. "I wouldn't want to deprive my two most favorite people in Remnant any opportunities to hear my golden voice."

"Tch," was the Faunus swordsman's derisive reply.

"Enough. Adam, keep our guests within sight. If they move, stop them," Phoenix ordered, a dark scowl on her face as she turned toward the notorious thief of their group. "Why haven't you left yet, Roman? I told you to continue the plan, didn't I?"

Roman rolled his eyes and leaned on his cane. "The promotion to delivery man is nice, but I don't plan on doubling as the muscle needed to unload all the damn Dust in that truck over there. I hired a special group of idiots for that kind of menial labor. Sadly, those two brats there offed the guys I had assigned for this last vehicle. And since each truck was assigned a different destination to drop off at, I won't have any leftover dolts around to help move the product."

Phoenix stepped threateningly towards the discontent man. "I expected more from you, Roman. Your ability to plan for these types of contingencies has been sorely lacking lately. Must I clean up the messes you make on a regular basis? This partnership is starting to feel one-sided with how often you ask for help."

Roman sent the woman a mocking smirk. "In all fairness, Boss Lady, I only ask for help when your delicate hands help create the mess. While your theatrical methods of creating traps are…impressive, they don't exactly make it easier for me acquire the things your secretive organization wants. Could you drop me a little warning next time you want to do this?"

Phoenix looked to be holding back a significant amount of anger, if the dangerous orange glow coming from underneath her hood was anything to go off of. She brought her wrist up to her thinned lips and spoke into a plain silver bracelet. "Freelancer, drop the cloak. It seems our resident thief is in need of assistance. Meet him for extraction at the factory's docking area," she commanded firmly.

"I really hope that's your Rook and not the Bishop. If I have to endure any more time with—ARGH!" Roman immediately felt an extreme amount of pain surge through his right arm, causing him to drop Melodic Cudgel to the ground. Looking at his harmed appendage in alarm, he saw a laceration along the skin of his forearm through his cut sleeve. Blood would have been seeping out of the shallow wound if it had not already been cauterized from the extreme heat of whatever sliced him.

"You wanted me to warn you the next time I carried out my plans, correct? This is the sort of warning you may expect whenever you think to question the methods of myself or those within my organization's ranks again." The curvaceous woman stalked up to the man gritting his teeth in anger and patted his cheek like he was a mere child. She then grabbed a fistful of his white overcoat and pulled him close, near enough where she could whisper into his ear. "Remember your place in this partnership, dear Roman. You were hired for your skill, not your running mouth. If either should prove to be… problematic, your severance in this relationship will be handled personally by me."

Phoenix roughly pushed Roman back and watched as he stumbled. She then snapped her fingers and conjured two black glass swords in thin air. The sharp blades hovered dangerously close to the notorious criminal's head. The extreme heat coming off their smooth surface was causing his eyes to water.

"Is that clear?" she asked sweetly.

"Crystal," Roman replied roughly as he took a few steps back and bent down to pick up his discarded weapon. Upon retrieving it and righting his posture comfortably, he pulled a cigar out from within his suit's inner pocket and walked over to the hovering twin blades. He pushed the end of his tightly-rolled tobacco against the sharp point of the nearest sword and pulled it away not a second later, a thin trail of smoke left in its wake. He took a large puff from his lit cigar and then started moving in the direction of the unmarked truck holding their payload.

He didn't utter a single word to either of his associates as he passed.

"_Looks like a group that'll have a long lasting friendship," _Jaune thought dryly, having distractedly watched the events unfold as he tended to Blake. Her shaking had stopped and her breathing returned to normal, but she was now unconscious. And that wasn't something he could take care of.

"Your White Fang kin did say your murderous gaze was capable of paralyzing enemies in fear, but I didn't expect it to be true. Bravo," Phoenix complimented Adam, having returned to grace her less uncouth company with attention.

"Exaggerated stories of a Faunus Aura technique I use called Bloodlust. Humans are incapable of emulating it, and only certain types of Faunus are capable of using it," Adam explained as he adjusted his mask. "Even in its perfected form, it only works on those who lack a strong Aura and aren't used to feeling murderous intent, which isn't the case of my foolish ex-apprentice," he finished, piquing the hooded woman's interest.

"I assume you used the black Dust crystal?"

Adam nodded. "It gets consumed too fast to be practical in a battle of attrition, but it is undeniably potent at amplifying ones abilities for a very short time. I didn't think my test of it would yield this kind of result… I would have preferred Blake conscious to witness her own end." He cast a calculative look on the quiet blond who was holding his target carefully. Given the serious, contemplative expression on the boy's face, he was probably strategizing how best to escape this trap situation.

He couldn't have been further from the truth.

Jaune Arc had no intention of running. He was actually craving the idea of battle so much that he was struggling to restrain his dominant hand from grasping Crocea Mors and attacking immediately.

"…_To talk so casually about murdering someone, of murdering Blake… these two…"_ Jaune could feel the dark influence of his corrupt power gnaw at the edge of his sanity. It was enhancing the disgust and rage he felt towards the immoral individuals in his presence. The madness in him was pounding on his mind's door, begging for permission to take control over his body in exchange for euphoric strength capable of smiting any being that he identified as an enemy.

Jaune wasn't going to deny it entry for long.

"Sorry, Blake. Remind me to apologize again later for being selfish and disobeying your orders, okay?" Jaune whispered to the unconscious female Faunus as he laid her light body onto the cold concrete. He smiled gently at the girl's serene sleeping face, a modest grin having replaced her pained grimace from earlier. With that image in mind, he stood up and performed an abrupt face to address his troublesome company.

"Mind giving me a moment to limber up?" he asked politely with a slanted grin while looking at the hooded woman.

"You have one minute," Phoenix replied in amusement as she observed the blonde futilely prepare himself for combat.

Behind his mask, Adam rolled his eyes in impatience. "Is that wise? We should just be done with this."

"A minute will not matter. Patience may be bitter, Adam, but the sweet fruit it bears is more than adequate compensation," Phoenix responded sagely.

"_That only seems to apply when you're the one playing with their food,"_ Adam thought derisively as he followed the woman's lead.

Jaune ignored their idle chat and withdrew his longsword from its sheath that he then unlatched off his belt. He sent a small pulse of Aura into the scabbard, causing it to shift into its heater shield form that he promptly wielded on his left side. He dug his forearm uncomfortably far into the first shield strap so that the majority of the weight was distributed there instead of his hand, which was now blackened like a Grimm. He really hoped the plate's width was obscuring enough for him to craft a surprise present for his not-so-friendly company. It wouldn't be that good of a surprise, otherwise.

As the minute came close to ending, Phoenix turned to her Faunus cohort and addressed him in a quiet tone. "Finish the girl quickly. Once an attack has been made here, time will be a luxury for us. The noise from our upcoming battle will most likely draw the attention of any residual police in the area who haven't joined the faux game of chase my colleagues have been running for diversion."

"Understood," Adam grunted in confirmation. He then frowned in the direction of the blonde teen. "Will you distract the puppet for me?"

Phoenix clenched her left fist closed, instantly causing her conjured blades to shatter into numerous floating black glass shards. "Of course, as long as you promise to play with him afterwards. I'm curious to see how long he can fare against your blade till our unwanted company arrives."

"Hmph. Treating me like one of your Pieces for entertainment…" Adam grasped Wilt's hilt firmly and adjusted his stance to one that emphasized utilizing an initial burst of speed for maneuvering.

In a few seconds, he was going to end Blake's life. And the only obstacle standing in his way now was a blonde swordsman with defiant blue eyes.

"I'm giving you two a chance to surrender before I start and finish this fight. If you promise to leave peacefully, I guarantee you'll both enjoy the profits from the Dust you stole and we'll forget this ever happened. However, if you stay and try to attack my friend, well… you're gonna have a bad time," Jaune offered as he took up a defensive position.

"You're an idiot," Adam bluntly replied.

"A certain family I work for often tells me I'm the most magnificent idiot of my generation," Jaune gave the Faunus a lazy bow before resuming his previous posture. "Now, I'll ask one more time, would you two kindly surrender?"

Phoenix chuckled smoothly at the blonde's foolish persistence. "You delude yourself, Grimm Knight. The girl can't be saved. Obviously, we know who you are and what you are capable of. Even if you're as strong as the rumors make you out to be, your options are still stay the same. Counter my barrage, or…"

"Meet my blade," Adam finished.

"Either way, one of us will make it past your guard and end the Shadow of the North's saga of interference. The only thing you may determine is how bloody her end will be." The hooded woman licked her lips in anticipation, left hand raised and ready to manipulate her projectiles. "So, riddled with glass or beheaded by steel?"

"Hm… Think I'll pick the third option of 'neither', thank you," Jaune remarked with a playful smirk as his hidden left hand toyed around with three orbs of bright energy; one the size of a golf ball and two as small as a marble. Despite the blinding appearance of the objects, no glow emanated onto the surfaces around them.

"Too bad that isn't available," Phoenix quipped and sent her black shards at the blonde knight with a flick of the wrist.

Following up the attack, Adam flew forward with unbelievable speed, ready to cut into his incapacitated former apprentice.

"Here goes nothing," Jaune finished muttering right as the hooded woman's projectiles started pelting his sturdy armor of Aura. In response, he threw his shield arm upwards and released his largest orb into the night sky, followed by a quick swipe down to release the smaller two in his possession, right in the direction of his unassuming opponents. When the first beams of torrential light started pouring from the constructs' decomposing shells of dark energy, he brought his shield up to cover his eyes.

The area was bathed in an ethereal white light.

"Dammit!" Adam cursed as he tumbled roughly onto the concrete during his sprint. He stood up shakily, disoriented by his vision that was polluted by harsh bright spots of various colors. Whatever the boy threw, it detonated right in front of his mask, filtering in an unnaturally strong flash. He focused on listening to his surroundings for hostile movement. It was all he could do, given his current status.

At the same time, Phoenix had summoned a circular wall of flame around herself for protection while recovering from her own visual disability. Orange-glowing runes lit up on her body hugging outfit as she stood in place with unnatural calm, a distinct smile of satisfaction on her face. "So, he's learned a new trick since Emerald's last report…"

"_Looks like I got them, but the effects will only last for so long,"_ Jaune noted after taking a quick second to observe the cautionary behavior of his stationary opponents. He sprinted over to the front of Blake's unconscious form, dropped his sword, and raised his heater shield high with both hands. The golden symbol on the front glowed brilliantly as he pumped the entirety of his non-corrupt Aura reserves into the defensive equipment.

True to his prediction, he could see Adam already regaining a posture of awareness and Phoenix's flame wall gradually descending.

"_Just a little more…"_ Jaune grit his teeth in concentration, hands grasping the sides of his shield tightly in stress.

Another onslaught of flaming black glass shot towards him like falling stars, and under their vicious flight was a charging Faunus that could be easily mistaken as a Grimm due to the luminescent red light coming off the symbols of his mask and dark clothing.

There was no more time to spare.

"It's all or nothing!" Jaune grabbed the top of his shield with both hands and slammed it down bottom first, tremoring the ground where it embedded deep into the concrete. The double arced symbol on its face grew brighter upon impact.

"You're in the way!" Adam appeared before the blonde knight and pressed Blush's trigger, releasing Wilt with unrelenting speed. Utilizing the high momentum, he grabbed the handle without hindering its velocity and aimed its reinforced might directly for the boy's neck.

"You're too slow," Jaune taunted the Faunus, unnerved by the oncoming scarlet blade and volley of fire-laden projectiles speeding toward him. Behind him, his shield pulsed with pent up energy ready to erupt.

And it certainly chose the right moment to react.

The sound of glass shattering and metal striking polluted the docking yard in a short orchestra of discord. When it died down, a cloud of ash and dust fell over the area of conflict like an eerie fog. A tall figure jumped out of it, disturbing the suffocating mix of smoke and powdered charcoal.

"His skillset is more suited for a Rook than a Knight, wouldn't you agree?" Phoenix asked airily.

"…" Adam said nothing to the woman standing next to him as he nursed his scorched right hand. His masked glare directed at the source of his unexpected injury, a blonde teen standing nonchalantly twenty feet away.

…In a translucent white dome large enough to cover both him and Blake.

Adam was not amused.

"If the lightshow didn't catch a few eyes, the noise should have grabbed a couple ears, right?" Jaune asked his undisturbed, comatose ally as he picked up his discarded longsword laying near her feet. He smiled at seeing a slight twitch of response from her bow-covered ears. Hopefully that was a sign she'd wake up soon. Her capable pair of hands would be appreciated, especially if their enemies didn't leave soon.

The flash and dome stunt he just pulled drained the last of his natural Aura reserves, and his Grimm Aura hadn't been fed in at least two months, meaning his time was very limited in using that pool once he transformed. Unfortunately, running had never been an option, not unless he wanted to involve innocent bystanders. And given how his two opponents felt about killing, he doubted they'd shed a tear if a civilian got shredded by glass or blade by mistake while pursuing him.

That was one of the three reasons why he chose to stay and fight until some form of help arrived or was called in by someone concerned from the show he was throwing. The second involved him knowing that competing against Adam's speed with Blake on his back was next to impossible. And third, well… he really wanted to give the White Fang operative a few good knocks until that mask of his fell off.

"Still scrambled. Guess that means no help from Alexander," Jaune observed while tapping his Scroll's static-filled screen pointlessly. The device was operational before the hooded woman's arrival, so she most likely had a hand in causing the interference somehow. He threw the useless gadget next to the other inoperable Scroll he embarrassedly fished out of Blake's inner vest pocket.

The sizeable dome covering them crackled with energy as a mix of sprayed bullets and glass pelted its surface. The violent hail stopped after a few seconds.

"Sheesh, they're pretty impatient. All right, Jaune, time to give them the fight they wanted," the blonde knight built himself up, glancing at the enemy duo standing not too far away from his barrier. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and started walking forward. Black Dust appeared and drifted around his body like a dark mist. With each step he took, a fragment of bone armor materialized on his moving form. When he finally made it past his wall of protective light, the only part of him not covered was his head.

"Not going to resort to more cowardly tactics, Grimm Knight?" Adam asked mockingly.

"Funny hearing that from someone who would kill a defenseless young woman without a single thought. But hey, I'm not questioning your honor as a person or swordsman, I'm just denying its existence," Jaune responded with a cheeky grin.

Adam's index finger hovered over Blush's trigger, ready to use Wilt's ejected velocity to shut the insufferable boy's mouth permanently. "That barrier won't last forever, puppet, and neither will Blake's life once I break through it."

"It's stronger than it looks, Adam," Phoenix commented idly, watching their verbal exchange with a mild expression on her lips. "As you can personally attest to, physical attacks aren't advisable, and the only quick way of collapsing it is by dispatching its creator."

Jaune smirked at the hooded woman. "You gleaned all that from a few attacks? I might have to take you out first, Phoenix."

Phoenix covered her mouth daintily with her left hand as she chuckled darkly. All it took was a twitch of the wrist for her to summon another batch of floating glass shards. "There is only one way you may take me out, Jaune Arc. And should you prove impressive to me tonight, you may do so. I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of sampling Vale's local cuisine in your pleasant company. Of course, that offer is only available if you survive what's to come."

Jaune laughed nervously, caught off guard by the woman's flirtatious attitude and alluring voice. "Y'know, you don't strike me as the kind of girl who's safe to bring home to meet the parents. At least, that's the vibe I got when you threatened to kill my friend. Plus, if this is what it takes to get a first date with you, I'd hate to see what you'd require for a second one," the blonde joked before reassuming a defensive pose with his longsword. He was already missing his shield.

"You're an interesting one, aren't you? I look forward to making you my Piece, Gri—"

The sound of a large explosion cut the woman's statement off mid-sentence. All three of them glanced at the source of commotion.

"Huh, either I got someone's helpful attention, or that's another unlucky bastard like me," Jaune said casually as he saw wisps of smoke coming from the top of a tall nearby building. A few blasts of what looked to be purple energy peppered the atmosphere around the location. In it, one shadowed figure was swiftly throwing out lasers of purple energy while in combat with two other unknown persons. The caster seemed to be overwhelming his or her opponents.

Either way, he wasn't in the position to offer help to whoever was the good guy in that particular fight. While it may be possible aid, Blake's safety was his utmost priority.

"I told them to bait that irritating woman away," Phoenix complained as she began walking towards the structure where the separate conflict was occurring. She stopped for a moment and turned to Adam, an orange glow emanating from beneath her hood and along the runic stitching of her dark outfit. "Can you handle him alone?"

"Don't insult me," the Faunus grunted.

"You'd do well not to underestimate him," Phoenix simply responded before disappearing in cloud of ash.

"Tch." Adam settled his masked gaze on the blonde nuisance across from him.

"Looks like my odds are much better now," Jaune commented as black Dust hovered around his shoulders. The floating material suddenly compacted over the blonde's entire head, glazing the contours of his face and hair with what looked like a thick coating of black paint. It enlarged like a bubble and burst into a clear mist, revealing a closed helmet of similar material as the armor beneath it. The vision slit in the helmet revealed no eyes, just a dark unending abyss. The complete bone-plated suit of armor gave off a presence that felt heavy and inhuman.

Adam could feel his adrenaline speeding his heart rate up. This was his chance to test the mythical figure many Faunus had started revering the rumors of. He wanted—no, he needed to know... Who was stronger; the fake savior of the Faunus who fought with the power of corrupt light, or him, the White Fang leader who would sacrifice everything to lead his race into a true era of prosperity?

"So, Adam Taurus," Jaune began, voice distorted from his temporary form. He pointed Crocea Mors at his silent adversary. "…are we going to stand here all night, or are we going to fight?"

Adam covered the twenty feet of distance between them in less than a second, straight sword arcing up in a strong opening attack whose speed could rival that of a falcon diving for its prey.

But his opponent wasn't as slow as he thought.

Jaune backhanded the swift upward cut away with barely an ounce of effort and then bashed the pommel of his sword into the man's exposed side before he could recover from the parry.

Adam recoiled from the blunt impact to his ribs and used his backward momentum to perform a quick spin that started with a high horizontal sweep with Wilt, and ended with a pointblank blast from Blush.

The deceptively agile knight let the scarlet sword scratch across his chest armor harmlessly as he side-stepped the metal slugged spray aimed at him. He then executed a cut of his own, throwing all his weight into the attack.

Adam crouched low to avoid the waist level cleave toward his person. Right when he felt a rush of wind above his spiked hair, he scraped his blade from its sheath and sliced at the knight's ankles. He met a surprising amount of resistance from the bone armor, as the metal of his sword vibrated upon making direct impact. Before pondering how such a thing was possible, he rolled back and jumped away from a gauntleted fist that cratered the ground he was previously at. When he landed, he observed the Grimm Knight shaking his left arm loosely without any motion of pursuance. Instead, the armored swordsman assumed an assured pose and gave a small wave.

"Y'know, like my barrier, this stuff is stronger than you think," Jaune tapped his armor with the edge of Crocea Mors for emphasis. "You probably thought that weapon of yours would cut through me like butter, similar to the usual droids and innocent people you kill. But you'll find that I'm built of harder material."

"Tch! Don't get so cocky," Adam breathed out right as he disappeared from the knight's vision.

"Don't be so predictable!" Jaune turned around and blocked a fierce downward slash from his extremely fast opponent. Their swords locked together as they fought for dominance over the other.

"Your instincts are good," Adam growled, pushing his blade further down with the assistance of his unoccupied offhand.

Jaune let out a chuckle, which sounded disturbing due to the altered inflection of his voice. "Our battleground is flat, Taurus. If I don't see you, you're either coming at me from above or behind. You'll need to be more creative than this if you want to surprise me. Also, did you notice I'm only using one hand?"

The alarms in Adam's head went off too late. The Grimm Knight eased back from blocking, making him lean forward to receive a devastating left hook from an ironclad fist.

A loud crack and heavy thud followed.

"Damn. I really hoped that would knock your mask off. Does the White Fang superglue those things on as an initiation ritual or something?" Jaune stared at the crouched Faunus swordsman whose gloved hand was covering one side of his face. He wondered what was up with that. Even if he had thrown a pretty strong punch, it was nowhere near enough to break down the Faunus' shield of Aura to deliver any significant damage. Maybe rattle his brains a little, but that's it. Unless…

"You're faster than you look," Adam muttered as he dropped the hand on his face to grab his fallen weapon. He stood up slowly and cracked his neck loudly.

Jaune felt a shiver run up his spine when the White Fang operative looked directly at him. The right side of his mask was heavily fractured but still intact, and crimson blood was dripping slowly down from underneath it.

Wait…blood?

"Mildly curious, are you insane AND suicidal? Who fights without any Aura defense up?"

"Those who aren't pathetic," Adam snapped at the Grimm Knight as he expertly sheathed his sword. "People rely too much on Aura for safety. The moment they run out of it for defense, they falter and submit to feelings of weakness. If a combatant gets hit, they should be reminded of their mortality and become stronger from it."

Jaune knew that sounded familiar, but from where, or who?

…That's right!

"What you just said, that last part… King Rudraun of Vacuo said that in response to the kingdoms who mocked the archaic way he trained his soldiers. Despite the criticism, his personal army, the Derg Branch, was the most successful military unit in history to ever lead expansion efforts into Grimm-infested territories. They gained the most ground and suffered the least causalities in comparison to the other kingdoms," Jaune recited from memory.

Adam was only slightly impressed by the youth's knowledge. "You may know Rudraun's history, but you lack appreciation for his methods, just like most of the four kingdoms' complacent population. All of you bask in ignorance while voluntarily isolating yourselves behind crumbling walls of security. The kingdoms' inhabitants have grown soft from peace and luxury, and it's up to the White Fang to correct that."

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you going to use the White Fang to incite a war against all four kingdoms?" Jaune felt like dispersing his helmet just to scratch his head in confusion. Had he knocked the guy's head too hard?

"I'm not going to waste my breath explaining anything to an abomination," the White Fang operative concluded his statement with a pull of Blush's trigger, blast Wilt forth pommel-first.

_"Who shoots their own sword out? Honestly!"_ Jaune thought as he prepared to steal the oncoming weapon instead of deflecting it.

He never expected the Faunus to be there to grab it before him.

"You can't match my speed!" Adam shouted as he grasped his soaring weapon in a reverse grip in midair and immediately slashed diagonally at his opponent's exposed neck.

"I don't need to!" Jaune dropped his body slightly lower and let the scarlet blade ricochet off the side of his helmet as he retaliated by thrusting Crocea Mors toward the recovering Faunus' unprotected front.

_M_▂▂ir▃▅l?

_Her eyes were rolled up, devoid of life, expression permanently stuck in an unforgettable mix of elated surprise and indescribable pain. _

_What caused her to make such a traumatizing face? And why were his hands soaked with her blood?_

_It felt so natural, so comfortably warm._

▃▃▄▄▅▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!

Right as his longsword was about to pierce into Adam's chest cavity, Jaune pulled back and jumped away.

"_So, he's just like Blake. Too scared to spill blood when he needs to," _Adam mused in distaste as he watched the armored swordsman sloppily retreat, putting a great distance between them. He knew the boy didn't have the heart to kill anything other than Grimm, which is why he had been unconcerned at the prospect of being skewered.

"Wilt should have taken effect by now," the masked Faunus muttered as he concentrated his Aura into Blush and sheathed its compliment blade with ease. He started moving toward the position of his target in a brisk gait. "Prepare yourself, Jaune Arc. Your weak armor and will are about to be broken."

Meanwhile, the blonde within the armor was struggling to quell the sudden burst of erratic thought flooding his mind. The sword in his right hand trembled as he grasped his head in pain with his left.

"I just wanted to give him a good bruising, not kill him. I'm nothing like…" Jaune's shaky rambling trailed off into silence as he suddenly loss focus. His vision locked onto the advancing form of the White Fang operative. "…he doesn't deserve mercy, does he? If I let him live, he'll never stop. Blake wouldn't be his last victim. Weiss would be next, then eventually Ruby and Yang… I can't let that happen. I need to protect them."

A single thought now dominated the forefront of his addled mind.

"I need to kill Adam Taurus."

Crocea Mors' blade lost its luster which reflected the luminescence of the shattered moon above. Instead, it produced an eerie midnight coating that seemed to drink in light greedily, darkening the space around it.

"In the end, you're just an empty vessel imitating the Grimm Knights of ancient lore, aren't you? It's only right I terminate your false legacy tonight," the tall Faunus said as he stopped several feet away from the unmoving suit of bone-plated armor. He grasped the hilt of his sword tightly. "Any last wor—"

Adam had to cut himself off when the knight blurred forward and threw a diving punch at what would have been his face, had he not reacted immediately by side-stepping the attack. However, there was no time to counter as he had to quickly swerve away from a helmet-splitting slash aimed for his head. He was then forced to block a heavy horizontal swing that carried a remarkable amount of strength behind it, enough to send him skidding back a few paces.

"▄▄▅▅▃▃▄▄!" an inhuman roar of fury came from the knight's helmet as the smybolic lines on its bone armor lit up crimson.

Despite being nearly overwhelmed by the last series of attacks, Adam couldn't help but grin in excitement. This thing that had seemingly taken over the blond's body, it carried the same intensity to kill as him, maybe even more so. THIS was the kind of opponent he was waiting to fight!

The true Grimm Knight had finally emerged.

"Now I'm motivated!" Adam shouted as the symbols on his mask and clothes glowed a brighter shade of red, nearly matching his adversary. He concentrated his Aura into Wilt's blade and sent out six slashes of scarlet energy, sheathing his sword after each cut.

The beams impacted the Grimm Knight harmlessly and only fueled its enraged visage. It charged toward the masked Faunus, its dark blade scraping along the ground in a trail of violent sparks. When the mad knight reached its target's close vicinity, the altered Crocea Mors weaved into a flurry of action.

"Hrahh!" Adam met the blows with fervor.

Tonight, under the tranquility of the shattered moon above, Vale's industrial district was acting as the stage for a symphony of chaos.

Near the factory, from atop a towering structure, explosions of fire and kinetic energy collided in the night sky like a brilliant display of orange and purple fireworks.

And on the ground level, two swordsmen wholly immersed themselves in a vicious fight that was tearing up the terrain around them. Their original goals no longer mattered, and their eyes were blinded by primitive want to murder.

This is what Blake woke up to as she sluggishly stood up within a comfortably warm dome of translucent light.

"What happened?" Blake mumbled as her amber gaze steadily opened, absorbing the scenery around her. She eyed the glowing shield next to her that was most likely acting as a focus for the barrier surrounding her. "Jaune's shield?"

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

Blake flinched at the ghastly sound that pierced her eardrums. She knew that horrific noise well.

"Jaune?!" She stared worriedly past the barrier at the humanoid Grimm creature releasing horrid roars while trading earth-shattering blows with her ex-mentor who had an uncharacteristically wide smile on his face.

How had things gotten so out of control?

"This isn't the time to be idle," Blake chided herself as she shook her head loose of unproductive thought and took stock of her situation. After several second of silence, she hurriedly grabbed her private Scroll which was laying near her feet and turned it on. Upon seeing the static scrambled holographic screen, she tapped the silver band around her left bicep twice and waited. "Amateur disruption signals…"

The screen lit up, revealing a functional home screen that she navigated into several windows that prioritized her Scroll's communication address into all of Alexander Schnee's personal devices. At her command, they would turn on and broadcast her audio and video feed. She pushed the program to execute her brute forced call and hoped he was near one of his devices. Since the SDC president spent a majority of his time in his manor's office, she decided to focus her efforts there first.

A minute later, the Scroll's holographic screen pixelated into an unexpected view of four people; the back of a seated Alexander Schnee rubbing his temples, his daughter screeching in the face of a bored-looking Yang Xiao Long who was lazily slouched on a lavish couch, and the blonde's sister, Ruby Rose, innocently munching on a plate of cookies while sitting on the SDC president's office desk.

Great. Now if only she could get out of viewing mode and penetrate the last layer of security so she could output her voice through that specific device. At least this was faster than dealing with his automated interactive voice response system.

XxX

_**Back at Schnee Manor...**_

"Don't you dare call me 'washboard' again, you irredeemably perverted plebian!" Weiss glared daggers at the buxom blonde lounging across from her.

Yang crossed her legs and fake winced as she pretended to nurse the ice pack on her head. "If you haven't noticed, I've got a headache. Mind toning your loud voice down to the point where it's as flat as your chest?" She failed to hide her teasing grin.

Weiss touched Myrtenaster's hilt anxiously. "…Father, may I stab this ineffably boorish girl full of holes? I promise to pay for whatever mess it may cause. It would be completely worth it."

Yang's lilac eyes danced in delight. "I'd like to see you try, Princess Washboard."

"That's it!" Weiss lunged forward with Myrtenaster.

The giggling blonde threw her ice bag at the angry white-haired girl and flipped behind the couch.

Weiss slashed the offending object away with her weapon, tearing the plastic bag apart and spilling its icy contents onto the carpet floor. She paid it no mind as she chased after the infuriating blonde who was taunting her.

Ruby merely swayed her legs and continued eating the peanut butter cookies on the plate next to her. She then remembered that she was supposed to be the mature sibling in her brother's absence. "Yang, stop teasing Weiss already! They gave us dinner, permission to see Jaune, AND cookies. What more can you ask for? "

Her words apparently met thin air since the scuffle continued with the wild blonde jumping over another piece of furniture that the Schnee heiress then accidentally stabbed. The petite redhead just shrugged and continued to take advantage of the mansion's endless supply of baked sugary delights.

"Miss Rose, please refrain from talking with your mouth full next time. You spilled crumbs on my recently polished desk," Alexander muttered loud enough for the girl to hear him.

"Oh, sorry!"

The Schnee president sighed loudly. It was probably the hundredth time he had done so today. He gave up trying to control the childish behavior of the two female teenagers about an hour ago, after having five of his mansion's staff get knocked out from attempting to calm his easily irritated daughter and the antagonistic jokester of a blonde. He only wanted to step away for half an hour of peace.

Reluctantly, he accepted that it was ultimately up to him to keep a watchful eye on the two sisters until Jaune returned later to resolve this messy business. Anyway, he preferred that the two opposing girls continue occupying themselves with their ire for each other in an isolated spot rather than the whole mansion. The repairs would be easier to cover that way. With that said, he prepared to pour himself a complimentary shot of brandy before having to futilely ask the girls for silence once more.

His hand stopped when the lights in the large room stuttered and the buzzing sound of a holographic screen opening emanated from behind his oaken chair.

_"Alexander, this is Shadow of the North. We have an emergency at your refinement factory and need help. Now!"_

All heads in the office immediately turned to look at the large screen behind the SDC president's chair. The dark-haired girl in the fizzy image looked overly stressed about whatever was occurring in her vicinity.

Yang pointed at the screen in amazement. "You're the Shadow of the North? Whoa! I thought you'd be a greasy-haired goth girl who worked at the back of a net-café or something. You're actually really cute!"

"Do all your spies contact you in such a disrespectful manner, Father?" Weiss asked with a look of indifference.

Ruby turned from her spot on the desk and waved with two hands at the dark beauty, which was supplemented by a warm smile. "Thanks for leading us to Jaune, Miss Shadow! We app—"

"Ruby! Opstay evealingray ouryay ourcesay!" Yang interrupted her little sister, not wanting to leak the identity of their informant as much as she already did with her earlier exclamation.

The small scythe-wielder scratched her head in confusion, not getting the message. "Uh… Gesundheit?"

"SILENCE!" Alexander shouted.

"Eep!" the petite girl near him recoiled in fear.

The other two girls settled into a neutral silence, one in suspicion and the other in curiosity.

Getting the desired result, Alexander turned back to address the familiar dark-haired girl. He wasn't surprised at all by her identity. "Shadow, calm yourself. Before I send anyone or anything to your location, I need details. But first…" He regarded the three female teenagers in his office. "Leave the room, girls. As you can see, I have urgent business to discuss with this young woman, and it is of no importance to you."

The young women didn't move an inch.

Alexander slammed his desk. "Do I have to repea—"

_"There's no time for secrecy, Alexander!"_ Blake cut the stern man off in agitation. _"The White Fang operation Jaune was helping me stop turned out to be a trap to kill me. Adam wasn't alone. Roman Torchwick was with him, along with several unknown affiliates. But that doesn't matter right now, what does is this."_

The screen shook as she turned the Scroll and panned to a fight occurring past the translucent barrier she was in.

None of them expected to see a Grimm-like human swinging a familiar gleaming longsword with reckless abandon. Its opponent was grinning like a madman as he weaved around dangerously close sword cuts without a moment's reprieve to deliver his own.

"Jaune?!" Yang and Ruby got to their feet immediately, eyes glued to the screen in a mix of concern and fear.

"Th-that's…" Weiss stared in shock at the manic suit of bone armor that was roaring savagely as it aggressively pursued the masked man whose sword rebounded off the knight's gauntlet. It was one thing to see his altered form in pictures, but to hear and see him in action… it was beyond unnerving.

_"I'm not sure what happened to cause him to go berserk since I was temporarily knocked out, but this situation needs to be defused,"_ Shadow explained, bringing her distressed face back into view. _"Alexander, we need to stop him before he does something he'll regret. This isn't like his episodes in the Svarlheim Wilds or the Dark Region. We're in the middle of Vale City's industrial district. If he somehow brings his rampage into the neighboring district and the Vale Council or the police catch—"_

"Shadow, enough, I understand the ramifications," Alexander stopped the girl's desperate rant. Somehow, he knew this little favor of his would devolve into trouble. But he didn't expect it to rattle Jaune into the madness of his full transformation."Tell me, other than Adam Taurus and Jaune, should I be prepared to encounter anyone else?"

Blake visibly looked up and narrowed her eyes. _"It looks like there's a skirmish on a nearby office building. Two... no, three people against one. I've no clue who any of them are, but the lone fighter is using Dust Symbology to hold the three others at bay. Look."_

The view on the screen vibrated once more as it moved.

Yang, Ruby, nor Weiss could make anything out of the presented blurry image, other than a few random bursts of fire and flying spears of purple energy. The Schnee president apparently noticed something because he palmed his face tiredly and rose out of his chair.

"…Of course she's there. Of all the people, and of all the nights," Alexander grumbled. If he didn't have a migraine before, he definitely had one now. He turned to address his informative company. "Buy me fifteen minutes, Shadow. I will be using my fastest transport to arrive with the necessary help. However, if a prudish blonde-haired woman should appear to offer assistance before I make it there, do whatever she says. Otherwise, don't interfere with Jaune Arc's battle until I arrive."

_"I can't promise that last part,"_ Blake said resolutely with furrowed brows.

Alexander gave the information broker a look of annoyance. "It's for your own safety, girl. If you foolishly jump between those two, your blood will be the only thing spilt."

_"It's okay. As long as it's mine and no one else's. I won't let anyone die tonight,"_ the dark beauty replied firmly before cutting off communications.

The projected screen went pitch-black from inactivity.

"Stubborn children and their hero complexes…" Alexander rubbed his forehead in exasperation and started walking to his office door to prepare for this new troublesome event. He couldn't wait to go to sleep tonight and take the next week off for his own sanity.

His quick exit, however, was interrupted by the three girls he was hoping to escape correspondence with.

Weiss put on a determined face and stood in front of the solitary door with her arms crossed over her chest. "Father, this concerns me as much as it does you. Jaune is more than just my bodyguard, he's my friend. Using my Semblance, I can help you restrain him so you can do… whatever it is you plan to do to bring him back safely."

"The offer is appreciated, Weiss, but I have this under control. Don't worry," Alexander quipped, receiving a harsh glare of defiance from his daughter in return. He was about to gently push past her when two more bodies got in his way.

"You seriously think Rubes and I will stay in this ritzy mansion after seeing all that? Listen, Schnee, our brother's in trouble and you're probably the reason he's in that situation anyway. So, the least you can do is bring us with you as backup," Yang tapped Alexander's chest with an accusatory finger, lilac eyes flickering red threateningly.

Ruby sheepishly stood next to her sister. "She's right, y'know. It's not like we can't fight, if that's the problem."

Alexander swept the blonde's finger off his white suit and shook his head at the two siblings. "The only people capable of taming Jaune back into normalcy right now are the Shadow of the North and myself. Stay here, be patient, and keep the level of damage you incur unto my property to a manageable level," he finished in an authoritative voice that permitted no argument, an image that was further reinforced by his cold olive-green eyes.

Getting no more outburst of protest, Alexander nodded cordially at the subdued group of teenagers and walked past them to exit. When he entered the long hallway beyond his office door, he turned back and regarded them with a tired expression. "Like a loyal but rabid companion, Jaune Arc might become more blinded by his inherent desire to protect close loved ones, meaning he will attack anyone who isn't of that category. There is no verifiable way to know how he will react in his altered form if he sees those he cares about the most. Obviously, Miss Xiao Long and Miss Rose, his love for you fulfills those criteria, and therefore make you an undue risk to everyone in the area. Understood?"

Yang just huffed and turned away.

"Yeah, we get it, sir," Ruby spoke for the both of them in a dejected tone.

Satisfied, Alexander decided to address the last concerned room occupant.

"Weiss."

"Y-yes?" the heiress stuttered from the unexpected call for attention.

The silver-haired Schnee frowned like he was taking a bitter medicine. "You are no exception to what I said. This shouldn't come as a surprise, but Jaune Arc does value you as more than just a person he is obligated to guard by contract. I know he regards you as a close friend. It's evident in his actions and the way he talks about you. If he ever ended up hurting you in his current state, he would never be the same again. His psyche would be broken, confidence lost, and will shattered. Weiss, are you willing to let that happen?"

"…No."

"Then you understand. Now, if you'll excuse me," Alexander muttered as he shut the door soundly behind him and quickly took off.

A minute passed as they collectively listened to the sound of the older man's footsteps carrying into silence.

Yang punched her fists together and gave Ruby a smirk. "Ready to recommence operation Save the Jaune, little sis?"

"Yang, your motorcycle is parked more than an hour away from here! By the time we get there, it'll probably be too late for us to make a difference," Ruby pouted.

The blonde laughed embarrassedly. "Yeah, well… do you have a better idea?"

Ruby sighed at her older sister's lack of tact before crossing her arms in serious thought. "Come to think of it, how's Mr. Schnee getting to that place in so little time? Even if we're in Vytal, we're nowhere close to Vale City..."

"Have you never heard of the TR-86, the Trimeresurus? It's the fastest Dust plane in existence, capable of flying from Mistral to Vacuo within a span of two hours," Weiss commented idly as she started pacing the room's interior, ice-blue eyes flickering in thought. "Lockhardt Corporation developed it ten years ago as an stealth vehicle to scout possible lands for expansion and resources. They manufactured only six of its kind, and each kingdom received one as a form of promotion for the company."

Yang rolled her eyes and plopped down on the seat next to her. "Cool story, but does it have a point?"

Weiss scowled at the infuriating blonde. "I was getting somewhere, you dunce!"

Ruby bound up to the angry white-haired girl and grabbed her hands in childish excitement. "There are only four kingdoms, which leaves two Tyrannosaurus planes unaccounted for. Two which your dad owns and one of which he's going to use to reach Jaune, meaning there's one up for grabs! Right?"

The Schnee heiress looked at the perceptive dark-redhead in surprise, her shoulder shaking from being exuberantly handled. She quickly schooled her face into its usual impassive coldness and tore her hands out of the jovial girl's grasp. "First of all, it's Trimeresurus, like the vipers native to Vytal. Second… yes, your statement is correct."

"Then why didn't you say so earlier instead of wasting our time with a stupid history lesson?" Yang asked with a quirked brow as she flipped back up. "Where's this lonely bird of yours nesting?"

Weiss shot the blonde a dirty look. "I'm not telling you."

"Really? You're choosing to be petty right now, Princess? Our brother needs help and you just admitted to housing a speedster capable of getting us there quick. Tell me where the damn plane is," Yang growled out as she walked threateningly close to the heiress.

Weiss was unimpressed by the blonde's intimidation tactics, as shown by how she brought herself closer to the brawler's face. "I was about to reveal its location, until you decided to open that libertine mouth of yours. You really should learn how to stay quiet and listen, you deucedly incestuous ignoramus."

Lilac eyes transitioned to red. "I'm going to punch you right in the a—Ack!"

Ruby pulled her sister's ear harshly, causing the older girl to forcefully take a few steps back. She then let go and clasped her hands behind her back innocently.

"Ruby, what the hell was that for?!" Yang looked at the girl in slight pain.

"Sorry about how my big sis has been acting," Ruby gave a slight bow of apology to the surprised Schnee heiress. "Yang's usually pretty thoughtful and fun to be around, but when it comes to Jaune, she gets excited and can be kind of hard to deal with. Anyway, Yang's sorry, too. Right?" She turned back to look at her sister expectantly.

"I'm more sorry that I didn't give her a good knock on the head when I had the chance…" Yang mumbled, rubbing her tender ear lightly.

"Yang!"

"All right, fine! Sorry for sort of being a jerk," the blonde female lazily apologized.

Ruby sheepishly smiled at the white-haired girl. "Think that's the best I can get out of her."

"I-it's okay. I understand her impatience, and I guess I was also being... difficult during this inopportune time," Weiss replied, taken aback by the smaller girl's mature tone and warm demeanor. It was hard to believe this was the same child who her father had easily hushed by simply offering a plate of fresh baked cookies and milk.

"Great! So, about that plane you mentioned…?" Ruby let the question hang in the air.

"Ah, yes." Weiss gratefully accepted the opportunity to return to the original subject. "We can depart as soon as possible, since my father has most likely left by now for the refinement factory that girl mentioned. The hangar where the second TR-86 is stored should be empty and available for our purposes. When we enter, I can direct the current guard on duty there to relocate elsewhere so we can fly the plane out uninterrupted."

"Sounds like a plan. But now that I think about it, who exactly is going to fly the thing? I only know how to use a motorcycle and Rubes hasn't even learned how to drive yet. Are you going to play pilot?" Yang asked as she walked to her sister's side.

Weiss wordlessly took her Scroll out and tapped into her contact list. Two seconds later, a young female's shy-sounding voice came from the device.

_"Oh! Miss Weiss, are you in need of assistance?"_

Ruby recognized the woman immediately as the nice maid who had baked peanut butter cookies for her earlier.

"Nina, meet me at Hangar 3 in three minutes. I need to be flown to the SDC refinement factory in Vale City."

_"I-I can't do that! Your father informed the entire staff not to allow you off the manor grounds until he comes back with Mr. Arc."_

Weiss frowned in annoyance. "I will claim full responsibility for my actions tonight, Nina. If my father tries to fire you, I'll confer with him personally on the matter and detail how I threatened to abuse his resources to kill your family in Mistral unless you listened to my orders.

_"Miss Weiss, what are you say—"_

"Your mother works at a bank on Baltia Ave, and your little brother attends Irkalla Academy in west Mistral, am I correct?"

_"Th-that's right. How did—"_

"With one short call, I can arrange for an unfortunately violent burglary to occur at Lemia Trust Bank and have someone crash their out of control vehicle into Aidan as he's walking to school, unaware of the danger around his corners. Does that sound agreeable?"

_"NO!"_

"Then, do you believe me capable of such a thing?"

_"YES!"_

"Good. Now, meet me at Hangar 3 and be prepared to fly me and two others to Vale City's industrial district, lest my threat become a reality for you," Weiss stated and collapsed her Scroll, effectively finishing the call. When she looked up, she was awarded the view of both the blonde brawler and the young scythe user staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Wipe those ridiculous expressions off your faces. I don't actually know any of my father's unsavory partners. As a young lady of dignified class, I make it a point to avoid acquainting myself with such uncouth individuals. Now, let's get going. We have somewhere to be." The Schnee heiress flipped her ponytail back and promptly strode out of the office.

"Hey, Rubes?" Yang turned toward the petite girl with a toothy smile.

"Hm? What's up?" The dark-redhead looked at her taller sister quizzically.

"I think I'm starting to like this girl a little," the blonde simply said as she too left the confines of the luxurious room.

Ruby just shook her head in wonderment and followed close behind. She couldn't shake off the one question ringing in her mind.

What kind of maid knew how to fly a plane?

**To Be Continued…**

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Man... Monty Oum's passing definitely hits hard, no matter how long it's been. He was powerfully inspirational to me, and obviously countless others. Hah, what am I saying? The guy's still inspirational to us. I can't say anymore than what's already been said by more articulate tongues.

Anyway, thanks for sticking around or for recently taking interest in this lowly fic of mine, good people! It'll be awhile till I'm finished with the next chapter, since I will be leaving next week to the Philippines for medical treatment. As long as I'm not dazed out of my mind, I plan to continue writing the next one or two chapters while recovering there for a solid three weeks. I would celebrate the huge increase of attention my story has received, but I feel like the content of this chapter might have disappointed quite a number of people.

Obviously, this chapter is in need of editing for repetitive word use, usual grammar, and weird dialogue. However, I wanted to release this as soon as possible, especially before my next operation. So, here you are, and I hope you enjoyed at least small bits of it. Also, if you're just noticing the "Shout-Out to" section I put below each Author's Note, it's simply a separate area where I vaguely list material I referenced within the written chapter. Most of the time, it has to do with mythological creatures, figures, deities, and places that I change the spelling of. If you spotted any and know the exact reference being pulled, do treat yourself to a deliciously warm, fictional cookie of your choice.

As always, fellow fanfic readers and authors, drop a review on my confused face if you find yourself able and willing.

Cheers!

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><p>Shout-Out to: Vosges department in France, Ancient Roman mythological creatures, Australian Aboriginal mythological creatures, Sonic X, South Park, Sonic the Hedgehog (Smash Bros.), Game of Thrones S2 E2, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, Austin Powers, Devil May Cry 3, Norse mythological locations, Greek mythological locations, Lockheed Corporation, Initial-D, Greco-Roman geography, Babylonian mythology, and Brave Frontier.<p> 


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